


Turn the Dial

by UisceOneLove



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Dark, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Bisexual Steve Rogers, Bisexual Tony Stark, Bottom Tony Stark, Canon Divergence - Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Dark, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Happy Endings are Relative, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Morally Grey Steve Rogers, Office Sex, Oral Sex, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Shower Sex, Steve Rogers Emotionally Burying Himself, Thorgi the Corgi - Freeform, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Lives, Top Steve Rogers, blowjob, memory manipulation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:00:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29364384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UisceOneLove/pseuds/UisceOneLove
Summary: Without the Avengers, without Tony Stark, and without Captain America, Steve doesn't know what to do with himself. He comes to Westview as a favor, but Wanda makes a convincing argument to stay.Who says there isn't a way to bring Tony back and keep him?
Relationships: Minor Peter Parker/Johnny Storm - Relationship, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Wanda Maximoff & Steve Rogers, background Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 33
Kudos: 118





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have become friends with too many people who encourage my combined needs of Steve falling into moral ambiguity, Steve getting to be happy with who he loves, and happy endings being mixed with darker means. 
> 
> Please enjoy my continued dissent.
> 
> Also, I'm taking aspects of WandaVision, not entirely folding the plot into my plans since this is focused on Steve and Tony.

Westview was eerie in how it reminded Steve of all those family sitcoms that Clint had liked to make him watch. Thor's friend, Darcy, had told him she thought it was intentional.

_ "I don't think the speed of the decade changes were part of the plan," Darcy said over a large mug of coffee that sent a reminiscent pang in his chest, "but the structure is definitely what Wanda was after. Have the kit and kaboodle of happy familial bliss."  _

He couldn't believe what they'd been seeing on the television screen when Phil Coulson had shown up at his door with Maria and asked him for a favor.

Now that he was inside, it wasn't any less unbelievable.

Knowing the reality for all of these citizens in Wanda's town was an uncomfortable juxtaposition with how they behaved. Some of them, like Wanda's neighbor Agnes, watched him as if they knew exactly what they were being subjected to. 

And here Steve was, in his civilian clothes -- normal clothes, he wasn't an Avenger or soldier any longer -- going on a walk in the park with their captor. 

Because Wanda was a friend. Clint had seen her like another daughter while Steve, admittedly, considered the Maximoff like a sister. Like the days of old Brooklyn and helping Bucky look after Rebecca. 

Wanda was another person that Steve cared about but, ultimately, failed. 

"I will tell you what I told them, Steve." It was unusual to hear her accent disappear within the confines of her hex barrier. "I am not letting anyone take everything that I love away. Not again."

He followed her eyes to the twins running around on the blacktop with Vision nearby cheering them on. It was something that Steve would have wanted for her. But not under this cost. 

"You know I understand, Wanda," Steve replied kindly. "When we found Bucky -- everything that happened with the Accords. There was nothing I wouldn't do to protect my best friend."

He'd lost Tony because of those Accords, because of his decisions. Steve didn't trust Tony the way he should have when he kept the most vital thing about Tony's life a secret and had been scared of ruining the common ground they'd finally built with each other.

Steve managed to fix that, just for a short while, before --

"If you understand, then why are you here to convince me to let it go?" she challenged. 

Steve had to stop his thoughts, lest the pain in his chest overcome him again. "I came as your friend."

Wanda slowed their walk to a stop when she reached a wooden bench, adjusting her overalls before she took a seat. "A friend who wants me to say goodbye to the man I love."

He swallowed down the steadily growing thickness in his throat, shifting on his feet. Steve had to be sure he was still breathing just fine before taking a seat next to Wanda. "We all have to, sometimes."

Steve watched the joy on Vision's face as he picked up Billy and Tommy, the way he spun them around without any thought that there's anything wrong outside of the town or in their past. 

He remembered the love Tony had worn holding Morgan in his arms that day at the lake house when he showed up with Natasha and Scott. 

What did Tony think about, the moment before he died? Was it that moment of holding his daughter? Or a moment like it?

_ Did he think of me? _ Steve sometimes wondered selfishly.

"You didn't get to say goodbye."

Steve turned his head, meeting Wanda's gaze. She was watching him, sympathetic, but also like she's come to a conclusion that she wasn't going to shy away from sharing.

"Excuse me?" he responded roughly.

"Pepper. Colonel Rhodes. Peter Parker. They were the ones who said goodbye to him after he killed Thanos."

"I said my goodbye at the funeral. Just like everyone else."

Wanda shook her head. "That is not the same."

Before Steve could even rebuke her, she took hold of his hand between hers, bowing her head to shut the rest of her world out of the conversation. He could see Vision look over, his gaze curious, but he didn't try to take part.

"You do not have to say goodbye, Steve."

The words hit Steve's stomach hard and heavy like a brick.

"Wanda -- "

"Do you not think about it?" she pressed, her eyes bright with how eager she was, how important it was for her to ask him. "Of having Tony by your side? Of being together and given the chance to be happy?"

Of course, that's what Steve thinks about. He'd loved the way Tony would light up and go on for hours about some science thing that the soldier didn't understand, or the times when it was because of him that the man would get that real smile on his face. 

"All the time," he croaked. "But I ruined that, Wanda. I kept things from him and broke his trust. I didn't pick him when he begged me to. He got to be happy with Pepper, not with me. That was his life."

"It does not have to be," Wanda insisted fervently. "You can have him. I can give him back to you."

Only now was Steve understanding what she meant, where she was going. "No," he shook his head. He attempted to pull his hand away but she wasn't letting him go until she was done.

"Think about it. You can wake up every morning with him. It would be like he never left. Like he was always yours, with all the love, all of the trust. I can help you be together. Let me give that to you."

"You want me to stay here," he said through his teeth, "and do what? Play House?"

"We can look after the people together," Wanda promised, "and every day you'll get to come back to Tony Stark. I can give you Morgan, too. You can raise her together. Billy and Tommy can have a friend."

Oh, God.

Steve pulled his hand again and this time she released him. He stood up, unable to stay any longer. He came to help try and convince her to stop this. He's clearly failed. He should get his things from the S.W.O.R.D. tents and go back to New York. 

"Captain Rogers, you're leaving already?" Vision asked as he and the boys approached. Billy and Tommy exchanged sad looks before turning their eyes on him and pouting. 

"Please don't go yet, Uncle Steve," Billy pleaded.

"Yeah," Tommy nodded, "you gotta stay!"

"Pietro will be disappointed he didn't get to see you," Visions added. "You must at least stay for dinner."

Pietro is another piece to this puzzle that Steve couldn't allow himself to start thinking about while his head was already reeling. It was hard enough to breathe with Wanda's offer weighing on him like an albatross around his neck.

Steve still forced a smile so as to not upset the kids. "Some other time."

Wanda took Vision's hand as she stood and tucked herself into his side. "We'll be ready when you do."

He didn't comment when Steve had no idea how she could look at him and expect him to come back after this. Steve didn't say anything else to her as Wanda took him back to the edge of the hex and released him, but he could feel her gaze on his back as he got further away from Westview.

As soon as Steve was outside of the barrier, S.W.O.R.D. was all over him. 

"Well?" DIrector Hayward demanded, impatient. He caught the way the man's eyes would flicker nervously to the barrier as if Wanda could send out a command against him at any second. 

Steve had gotten the debriefing of how poorly the man's confrontation with her had gone. Which was why Steve had been sought out. 

Monica Rambeau, on the other hand, showed concern for her. Steve appreciated that someone here didn't see Wanda as some overpowered threat like General Ross had years ago when the Accords were brought to the Avengers' doorstep. 

But there was too much for Steve to think about. He wasn't ready to talk yet and he wouldn't just because this man was incompetent at his job. Steve met Hayward with a hard look until the man backed down, then walked past all of the agents into the tents. He could hear the aborted footsteps of someone being prevented from following, and it was a damn good thing because Steve wouldn't have felt bad for punching whoever it was in the face.

Especially Director Hayward. 

Steve went to the make-shift room that was supposed to be his for this visit as the only place he could get privacy. As soon as he had the flap down and his ass on the cot, he was able to let his grief rise and spillover.

Stepping down as Captain America and passing the shield to Sam was supposed to give him the time to rest and grieve. That's all he's  _ been _ doing for the last few months. He couldn't stop seeing Tony, half-burnt and dying, everywhere he went. Couldn't stop thinking of all the ways he should have been the one to get the gauntlet and use it. The serum could have let him survive, surely. 

And even if it hadn't, what loss would it have been?

Steve was the Man Out of Time. He survived death in the Atlantic while the world kept revolving on its axis and life went on without him. Dying by the gauntlet would have been catching him back up to where he was supposed to be.

At least Tony would be alive, happy, and with his family.

_ I can give him back to you. _

How dare Wanda offer him something so selfish? Something that Steve had lost the right to as soon as he made the decision to hide Bucky's connection to the deaths of Howard and Maria Stark?

Steve furiously scrubbed at his wet eyes, feeling the tears spill over his knuckles regardless. 

He could never be selfish enough to bargain with Wanda for Tony.

...could he?

There was a rustle of the flap to make him aware of someone outside his room. He startled out of that unexpected thought and quickly shut it down, putting the Captain face on and saving everything else for later.

"It's Darcy," a voice announced awkwardly, their shadow shifting uncomfortably on the other side of the flap. "I mean. If that makes any difference in my being here. I can -- I can go?"

"No," Steve called out, managing a smile, albeit something on the smaller side, "it's all right, Darcy. Come on."

She's a small thing, Darcy Lewis. She's not at all frail, and Steve has had his share of laughs at the stories Thor and Janes used to tell, but she is short in stature. Even Tony would stand a few inches higher than her. Her long hair pooled over her shoulders and stopped halfway down her torso, and her glasses made her eyes stand out, a vibrant blue like Bucky's. 

Darcy stayed near the flap, hovering like she didn't know what she was allowed to do with herself. Steve's experienced plenty of those moments himself. He scooted over on the cot to give her a spot, which she took with a grateful smile.

"She didn't let us see you talk in the broadcast," Darcy informed him, and Steve had a feeling it was her attempt to reassure him regardless of what happened to be unknown to them, "it was all just a bunch of Vision being a happy computer papa to the twins."

"Wanda's created a dream life for them," Steve nodded.

"I can understand the appeal," Darcy said. "Life out here sucks. Who wouldn't want to escape to a perfect town like that?"

_ You can wake up every morning with him. _

The traitorous thoughts were still too close to the surface and knocking.

"What are they planning to do?" Steve asked, sidestepping the call.

Darcy snorted, "There's not much they  _ can _ do unless they want to start another war. No one gets through that hex except whoever Wanda invites, and you've yet to tell them anything."

Steve didn't know if he planned to tell them anything. There wasn't much information that he could share with them if he set aside what Wanda offered. Nothing that S.W.O.R.D. didn't already know.

"She shook you. Didn't she?" 

Darcy didn't look like she was asking to interrogate him like Hayward and the others would. She looked like she knew because she took in all the data as she observed. Because she knew Wanda wouldn't have hidden their conversation if it wasn't something potentially personal.

He nodded slightly, looking down at his hands. "She did."

"And I'm not asking to go blab to anybody," She quickly assured, looking at him with a sudden alarm.

"I didn't think you were," Steve replied, his smile getting more solid ground.

"Good." Darcy let out a relieved breath and nodded, sitting back more comfortably. "While I'm terrified and fascinated at Wanda's abilities from a scientific and multi-versal standpoint, I also happen to remember, unlike some people around here, that behind the former Captain America is a guy named Steve Rogers who goes through shit just like the rest of us." 

"Helps to have seen an Asgardian god of thunder in all his glory, right?" Steve jokes, and it's enough for the both of them to smile.

"That does help, yeah," Darcy agreed.

He's able to forget things with Darcy there to talk. Steve regrets that he didn't extend more of a friendship to her before the Snap and Thanos but he'd had his own troubles, his own goals that kept him busy. It doesn't seem like Darcy holds anything against him, at least, with how welcoming and friendly she's being with him now. 

Steve didn't realize the passing of time until Agent Woo came by to let Darcy know it was the night shift to watch Wanda. 

"You should get some rest," Darcy told him as she stood. "And Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"It doesn't make you a bad person to consider whatever Wanda told you. You're human just like the rest of us."

Steve didn't say anything else but was met with an understanding smile before Darcy made her leave.

He did try to sleep after she was gone. But it went as poorly as expected.

There was nothing to keep Steve's mind from circling Wanda's offer. The more that her voice echoed through him, the less that he felt so horrified by it.

_ Do you not think about it? Tony by your side? _

He pressed the heel of his hand against his chest like he could rub the pain out of his heart. He's grieved. Steve still has new notebooks that were quickly filled with sketches of Tony from his memory. There wasn't a lot he did anymore now that he was retired. Sam and Bucky were gone on missions, Nat was dead, and it didn't feel right to hover over Tony's loved ones. 

It was like being back in the isolation of The Snap.

His purpose was gone again. Wanda was holding out a hand to give him purpose.

A life with Tony Stark. A chance to wake up with the love of his life, and a friend to talk to.

Steve remembered the way Tony had looked at him when they were preparing for Ultron when he'd told him of his old dreams. He'd told Tony how he'd only ever wanted a family before the war. Tony had pulled him close, kissed him, and said they had one.

Tony made sure the Avengers were his family and gave Steve a home.

And then Steve blew it up in his face.

...but he could get it right back. He could keep it. He could take care of it. 

And he can have Tony back by his side.

Steve stared at his phone from on top of his clothes, nestled on a plastic chair someone had left for him. He should call Bucky or Sam. He should call them and tell them what's going on in his head so that they can talk him out of it. He should be finding Darcy and Director Hayward to let them know what Wanda said so that they can figure out a way to peacefully convince her that this wasn't the way to get her loved ones back.

Steve didn't do either.

Making as little noise as possible, he got dressed and organized his bag. He shut off his phone and buried it inside, then slipped out of his room and down the corridor. 

Somehow, it didn't catch Steve off guard when he found Wanda waiting for him at the barrier. The guards were already indisposed, weapons tossed aside. Steve kept walking past all of them until he reached his former Avenger, where she was waiting there patiently with a non-glowing hand extended.

"He'll be happy?" Steve questioned, wanting to hear it one more time.

"You'll  _ both _ be happy," Wanda promised.

Steve didn't let himself look back as he took her hand and stepped back onto the other side of the barrier, his guilt being replaced with hope as the barrier came down behind them. 

The next time Steve opens his eyes, it's to a bright splash of sunlight coming through the bedroom window. It was pleasantly warm against his face and made him want to drift back to sleep for a little longer.

"Papa!"

Steve let out an "Oomph!" when a small force launched on top of him. He put an arm around the projectile and rolled onto his face to get a look at Morgan's grinning face. "Good morning," he greeted her amusedly. 

"Daddy said to wake you up because you'll miss breakfast."

Steve, fighting a smile, arched his brow at the miniature Tony. "Oh, he did, huh? Did daddy say to do it just like that?"

"Said I'd get extra blueberries, too," Morgan nodded.

"Oh, well, if there are extra blueberries," Steve said seriously, "then you had no choice."

Morgan nodded again, then broke out into a squeal when Steve started tickling her. He moved her to the other side of the bed, letting her fling her limbs about to try and get out of the attack for a moment before he released her. She rolled off the bed, panting but still smiling before she hurried out of the room. 

_ "Don't fight the new memories," Wanda had told him, "embrace them." _

Out of habit, Steve made the bed once he was out of it. He didn't change out of the navy blue sweats or the white tank since he considered this the exact occasion to stay comfortable. He didn't have anywhere else to be. Everything was in this house and waiting for him. 

Still, he couldn't help the rush of butterflies in his stomach when he came down the stairs and saw Tony through the kitchen divider. 

Tony exactly how Steve remembered from the lake house. Greying hair that only emphasized the tenacity and brilliance held by the man over the years, a smile that wasn't painted on for the press, shoulders that no longer carried any weight from the world. This was the Tony that Steve used to be able to watch tinker away in the workshop because it's where Tony was the most comfortable and belonged. 

This house, this life, was where Tony belonged now.

"Did you manage to wake the sleeping giant, Maguna?" he asked when Morgan came running up to Tony.

Morgan hooked her arms around Tony's legs in a hug and nodded. "I get more blueberries now!"

Tony turned his head, his smile softening into an adoration that Steve long since forgot felt like having some deity's favor. "Since he's here, it's extra blueberries all around." 

"What's the special occasion?" Steve asked, his own smile starting to grow as he walked over to the kitchen table. It was already covered with coffee, juice, bacon, and a giant dispenser of syrup that he could tell wouldn't last past this meal.

"There has to be a special occasion for blueberry pancakes and a hearty breakfast?" Tony gasped, mock-appalled. "I am feeling very attacked right now, Capsicle, after I've gone through making a delicious meal for my family."

"Papa can't attack daddy," Morgan input, joining Steve at the table. He slid a glass of orange juice closer to her when she climbed into a chair and took one next to her.

"You're right," he nodded, "I shouldn't attack an old man."

Tony gaped at Steve, pausing mid-step with arms full of plated pancakes. "Did you just call me  _ old _ ?"

Steve looked back at him innocently. "Did I?"

"Okay, Mister Rogers, your pancakes have been relegated to the real love of my life." Tony sat two plates down in front of a giddy seven-year-old before taking the seat  _ across _ from Steve instead of next to him. 

"It's not going to be me who deals with the sugar high fallout afterward," Steve replied smugly. It was worth it. All of it.

Tony paused, syrup pouring over his pancakes longer than anyone should pour before he glared at the blond. "Just because you've made a point doesn't mean you're forgiven," he stated as he moved the plate in front of Steve. 

Steve had just gotten Morgan's pancakes cut up when another set of feet hurried down the stairs. 

"I'm sorry, I'm late, I know!" Peter jumped over the banister to get down faster and threw himself into the seat next to Steve.

"You almost didn't get pancakes," Tony informed the teenager, a fond twinkle in his eyes that betrayed the chastisement.

Peter grimaced. "Ned needed some last-minute help with some homework."

There had been times, as the Avengers, when Steve was able to sit back and watch his team act like a family. Meals were always the easiest times when it would happen. Thor, with his portions even larger than the ones Steve needed to consume, asking about some Midgardian colloquialism that he did not understand, or Clint with his carnival-driven obsession with being in the vents or rafters at any opportunity, even if it meant using his arrows like a pulley system to fetch his servings. 

Bruce was always the one to quietly sit back with a newspaper or the latest research on gamma radiation, the one with who Steve had still been only cordial because it'd been hard to find some common footing with the scientist. Natasha was better at breaching that gap when she wasn't busy cutting a knowing remark to the rest of them over her cup of coffee. All of them left an area of fondness in Steve's chest that he was content to observe.

But none were like Tony. If it was a morning where he did show up, then it was to sleepily stumble around for a fresh cup of coffee and to steal something from Steve's plate.

Sitting there now, with Tony teasing Peter and Morgan coating her face with syrup while she shoved blueberry pancakes into her mouth, Steve felt the same contentment. 

This was Steve's family. Queens was now theirs to look after, and Morgan wouldn't ever have to lose her father far too early.

They'll all have each other. Whatever uncertainties and guilt Steve had started out with outside of Westview were easily packed away with the rest of what the blond had decided to leave behind. The consequences, if he ever had to face any, would be worth it to hold on to this. 

"No one's really stopping you from eating those, Capscicle."

"Hm?"

Steve blinked at the most likely soggy breakfast on his plate, then lifted his gaze up to the pair of worried hazelnut eyes across from him. Tony was good at playing relaxed but Steve's worked with him for too long to not pick up on his tells. 

The eyes, no matter who they belonged to, never lied. 

"I know I like to seem like a petty kind of husband, but denying you of your favorite meal of the day is not something I would be cruel enough to follow through on," Tony went on.

"Yeah, what happened to it being the most important meal of the day?" Peter challenged with a grin between mouthfuls. Some things never changed. 

Morgan nodded seriously. "Important."

A grin split Steve's face open and he had to follow the impulse to lean over and kiss her head, hand wrapping her up in a side-hug. She was going to be so much like Tony when she's grown up. Steve didn't want that to happen too soon. 

"A guy can't enjoy his family?" Steve responded when he pulled away from her.

Tony didn't look like he was going to completely accept that, but he didn't get the chance to say anything about it when someone knocked on their door. "Finish up," he told the kids, pushing away from the table, "it's time to get going."

Steve furrowed his brows. "Where are they going?"

"Aunt Wanda wanted someone to watch Billy and Tommy while they have a lunch date," Peter answered, shoveling what he could of the pancakes into his mouth and chasing it with orange juice before he got up.

"Oh," Steve replied dumbly, belatedly pushing in everyone's chairs before he followed them.

"You said I could, pops," Peter said with a frown. "Remember?"

Steve nodded, offering Peter a smile and a squeeze of his shoulder. "I do. Just slipped my mind for a second."

"You have an eidetic memory, how can anything slip your mind?" Tony challenged him off-handedly as he opened the door.

When Steve had first arrived to Westview, all of Wanda's inhabitants had been transitioned into the nineties or early two-thousands, as Darcy had so kindly -- and excitedly -- explained to him. She was the one who took it upon herself to induct Steve into the hex and everything they'd learned about it. Mentioned the sitcoms she thought Wanda was burning through. Steve didn't particularly care for the filming style when he'd caught a snippet of it before paying Wanda a visit. 

But the clothes weren't too outlandish, with Wanda looking fairly normal, in what Darcy had joked as "mom jeans" once before and her hair laying in neat layers to her shoulders. Vision's style hadn't changed all that much from what Steve remembered; the cool-toned sweaters and relaxed-fit jeans. 

Though the non-Vision form was the part that Steve still had to adjust to.

"Vision, Wanda," Tony said with a pleasant smile, letting them inside. "Peter and Morgan are grabbing their things from upstairs."

"It's all right," Wanda assured, coming to Steve for a hug, "I'm sure they'll be right down. The boys are playing with Sparky in the yard so they don't have to rush."

"Just so long as we're not the ones cleaning up after it," Tony sing-songed, hands going into the pockets of his jeans.

"What are the plans for your lunch date?" Steve asked Wanda, giving his husband a stern look. Tony simply shrugged innocently and stayed by the door so he could watch said dog and the boys.

Vision brightened and smiled at Steve, barely containing his excitement. "Ah, well, Wanda thought it would be a delightful idea to have something called 'brunch' and then go to a movie."

"Sounds romantic," Tony input without any snark. It was surprising and appreciated.

"That is what we believe," Vision agreed, putting an arm around Wanda's shoulders. She leaned right into him like she belonged there. 

"It's why we really appreciate Peter being up for this," she nodded. 

"I hope that it turns out like you're hoping," Steve replied. He heard the rushing footsteps behind him and turned in time to see both of their children heaving backpacks over their shoulders. 

"Figured the park would be a good place to take them," Peter told their guests, "and maybe a trip to the museum?"

Steve arched his brows at Wanda. When was there a museum in Westview?

Wanda didn't react to Steve's gaze, busy returning Peter's smile. "That sounds perfect. Tommy and Billy will both love it."

"Great!" Peter looked like he was excited for the trip, too. "And I promise that if anything happens, I'll find a phone to call you." 

Wanda gave Peter's cheek a kiss. "I trust that you will." She then turned to Steve. "Since they're ready to go, we'll get out of yours and Tony's hairs as well."

"That sounds like a great plan," Tony agreed, but not unkindly. He pulled Morgan and Peter into their own hugs, then slipped some money into Peter's hand. "This is for emergencies only."

Peter nodded. "Yes, dad." 

Their son came over to Steve to give him a hug, too, and then he was lifting Morgan onto his shoulders and carrying her outside. 

"A museum?" Steve still said under his breath to Wanda while Tony was handling Vision. 

"Westview is what we make it to be," Wanda told him. "Science and art are appreciated, not just the suburbs."

A compromise. Wanda was showing him that she wanted to share the space with him, not for him to merely be an addition to her population count. Steve already told her that he trusted her but that...that was something that he was touched by.

Wanda gave his hand a squeeze before she linked back up with Vision. "Have a good day," she bid to them before they stepped outside. 

Tony could not have shut the door any faster. "Would you look at that?" he said, turning to Steve with a rock of his heels. "We have the place all to ourselves." 

Steve tried not to smile. "Was that your plan?"

"It could have been." Tony walked past Steve to the table, collecting the dirty dishes. Steve, never one to leave the chores solely to someone else, started cleaning up what he could as well. "So are you going to tell me what earlier was really about?"

The same assurances and brush-offs were right on the tip of Steve's tongue. But those wouldn't do. Tony would get angry at them. And Steve didn't want that. All he wanted was to be truthful to Tony.

"I was thinking about the Avengers," Steve admitted, balancing the condiments in his arms and following Tony into the kitchen.

Instead of getting upset, Tony looked at him with understanding. Because, of course, he did. The new memories they had made it so.

"I still wake up thinking I'm going to walk down into the communal kitchen and see Thor having some kind of contest with Barton," Tony replied, setting the dishes in the sink and turning the tap so hot water could fill up.

"They're all hard not to miss," Steve smiled small. Natasha would still be the hardest one of all.

Tony took the syrup and butter from Steve, putting them in their respective places in the cabinet, then stepped up to the blond to rest his calloused and scarred hands on Steve's hips. "They were family," he said simply, knowing. "Hey, I'd love to call Thor down from Asgard for some prime cuddle time, but I've got you for that instead."

Steve pressed his lips into a thin line to keep the smile away. "You've fantasized about cuddling with Thor?"

"Don't tell me you never have," Tony scoffed.

"Well, I'm sure that he's very worthy when it comes to his abilities."

"You're just as worthy. Worthier, since you're the one who was smart enough to put a ring on this."

Steve shrugged his shoulder. "There was no question of doing it, Tony." 

"Mhm." Tony slid a hand around the back of Steve's neck and pushed up on his toes. Steve closed their eyes when their foreheads touched, and he was content to take this moment, too. "So you don't regret this? Getting hitched, putting up the shield, and moving our asses to the burbs of all places?"

"I did it for you," Steve replied quietly. "I'll do anything for you."

"Even become a Soccer Mom?" Tony teased with a smile. 

"Only if you plan on doing the Racing Derby."

"Fair deal, Steve."

Standing in the middle of the kitchen, Tony in his arms, and a warm welcome of their lips together, was the kind of Heaven that Steve had fantasized about when he was going down in the Atlantic. This was the family that he wanted, and now he had it. 

After they cleaned up breakfast, Steve let Tony lead him back upstairs. With Tony writhing beneath him, Steve's cock sliding in and out of him with every dance of their hips, it was a perfect dream. He was free to leave as many bright red splotches as he wanted on Tony's neck and chest, make Tony beg for his release amongst a symphony of moans, and hold him close once they were both well past being spent.

He had missed being the one who got to have Tony Stark in their bed. 

There was no one to interrupt them, no impending disaster that they needed to suit up for in the middle of it, and no reason for them to ever think the peace could be broken until the day they wanted it to.

It was like being newlyweds, and for Steve that was technically true. They spent the day in a complete bubble. Steve got on his knees in the shower and sucked Tony's brains out through his dick, and then he laid out on the couch in the workshop Tony had set up in the basement, falling into the old habit of sketching away in a notebook while his husband worked. 

Steve looked forward to getting to do it for the years to come. 

For lunch, Steve was the one to order them some of Tony's favorite pizza. They sat on the couch, watching  _ Point Break _ because Steve remembered it being the inventor's nickname for Thor, and Steve didn't mind at all when Tony decided to slide into his lap while they did. 

"Maybe we should get a dog," Steve mentioned halfway through the movie.

"We don't need a dog, Steve," Tony objected.

"It'd make good company."

"I've got all the company I need."

"Yeah, but think about it."

"I do not need to think about it," Tony insisted, "do you want to clean up after it? Because I don't. We already went through diapers for Peter and Morgan, that's been my quota filled." 

Steve nosed along Tony's jaw, hands pulling him closer by the hip. "It'd be a good lesson on responsibility," he pointed out, "give the kids something to be in charge of."

"Nope, not falling for it, Steven," Tony replied, shaking his head and crossing his arms. "That dog would still wind up being fed and walked and sleeping with us. I prefer having nothing to stop me from climbing on top of you in the middle of the night should I choose to."

Steve nosed at Tony's cheek until the brunet finally turned to him, coaxing Tony into a slow kiss. Tony's hands wound up snaking along his broad chest to Steve's shoulders while Steve shifted the man in his lap so that Tony was now straddling it.

"I know what you're doing," Tony mumbled against his lips between kisses. 

"Fighting for a cause?" Steve responded, cupping Tony's ass and pulling him flush against him.

Tony's grunted, slowly moving his hips against Steve's. "You're trying to convince me with sex. I have to say, I'm impressed. Did not see it coming from you."

"We have to use whatever strategy we can." Steve elicited a rather wet gasp from his husband when he dipped his fingers down the back of Tony's jeans and teased them down the crease of his ass.

Tony nodded, "Persuasive strategy." Then they were kissed with a lot more heat and quickly losing their clothes all over again.

Tony said yes to a dog.

Steve said yes to a top-of-the-line blowtorch for the workshop.

Everyone got to win.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like I'm adding another chapter to the count already. It just keeps on going, I swear.

By the time Peter came home with a tired Morgan in his arms, dinner was ready to go. A simple dish of spaghetti and salad, they spent the night enveloped in laughter. 

Morgan had become instantly more alert when the news was announced that Tony would be taking them to the animal shelter in the morning to pick out a dog. Peter looked like he was pleased with the news, too. Steve recalled the boy asking for one constantly when he was Morgan's age.

The plan was that they'd bring their choice to Tony and Vision's place of work afterward and go out to lunch. It left each one of them with something to look forward to in the morning.

This time, Peter was the one to take care of meal clean-up while Tony took Morgan up for her bath, and Steve went around the house out of habit to make sure every door was locked and windows were latched. 

Wanda would never let a burglar on the loose in Westview but Steve's spent too many years of his life preparing for the worst. He was going to make sure his family could sleep safely at night. 

"It was your idea for the dog, right, pops?"

Steve met Peter at the stairs, kitchen lights turned off. "It might have been," he answered. He was caught off guard by how quickly he had a former spider in his arms with a tight hug. He slowly brought his arms around the boy to return it, resting his chin on Peter's head.

"You're the greatest, pops," Peter informed his shoulder.

"It's just a dog, Peter," Steve chuckled.

Peter shook his head. "Dad's been saying no  _ forever _ . How did you do it?"

Steve stepped back from his son enough to put an arm around him and lead the way upstairs. "We all have our methods."

He stopped with Peter in front of his bedroom, scrubbing a hand through the boy's hair. "Get some sleep."

"I will," Peter promised.

"That means no late-night phone call with anyone."

"I won't," the boy insisted, quickly ducking into the room and shutting the door.

Steve would have to see if Wanda copied anyone else from Peter's life here; he didn't know if someone had caught the boy's eye back in New York. That was more something Tony would have been around to hear stories of. 

The bathroom door was open and the light was off while humid air from the shower wafted out into the hall, so Steve detoured to the next doorway. Morgan's room felt like it was already playing a delicate balance of femininity and boyish; lilac walls with little inventions that Tony must've made for her aligning the shelves. Books were stacked in a mini-bookcase and stuffed animals littered the floor. Steve could even spot an old Iron Man helmet on the nightstand.

The room would need some cleaning up before the dog can get into any of it. But it was a place that screamed how much their daughter was related to Tony.

"You need to sleep now, Maguna," Tony murmured from the bed. Morgan was already tucked in, her dark damp hair combed into straightness, with a Widow Bear held in her arms.

"What about a story?" she asked, trying to get him to let her sit up.

"You already got one," Tony told her.

Steve came over to the other side of the bed so he could take a seat. "She could get one more," he offered, resulting in an exasperated sigh from his husband. 

Tony threw up his hands with a perfectly coordinated dramatic flare. "You want to help her stay up, fine."

Morgan clapped her hands and settled in spiritedly, looking between them for someone to start. Tony was waiting on Steve expectantly, brow raised in challenge.

Steve was ready for that challenge. "How about the story of the Black Widow?"

"Like Aunt Nat?" Morgan asked. 

"Just like her," Steve nodded. He might be the only one to remember her death but they didn't need a morose reason like that to be able to talk about her. 

Morgana rested her head against the Widow Bear. "I want to hear it," she said, then added, "Please, papa." 

Tony shifted around so that he was positioned with his back against Morgan's headboard, and they all three settled in for Steve's story. He told about the intelligent and cunning Black Widow who had outsmarted a trickster and stood her ground against evil aliens and used her stealth to take down many, many bad guys. 

Steve weaved the story like how Clint taught him, watching the look of reminiscent amusement come from Tony and pure awe from their daughter. They should have started having children years ago, or at least more than just Peter and Morgan. Steve could do this all night. 

Slowly, but as anticipated, Morgan's eyelids closed, unable to stay open any longer. Soon after that, she was sleeping soundly. Steve let his story trail off and leaned down to give her a goodnight kiss before Tony took his hand and led him out. They shut off the light and closed her door, then finally went to their own room.

"Nat would be touched that she's such an admired ploy to get our child to sleep," Tony said on his way to the closet. 

Steve discarded his clothes neatly in the hamper, but he took advantage of getting to see the other man undress. Tony was his own personal show and they both knew it. 

"I think that Nat would be a little disappointed that she's a children's story instead of a suspenseful tale for the campfire," Steve corrected.

"You've seen how she is with them," Tony argued, nudging the closet shut with his foot and strolling over to the bed. "She'd love it." 

There were many layers to Natasha. Steve had been fortunate to have been allowed to see as deeply as she'd let him. They really only had each other for company towards the end, when Rhodey and the others had gone off to their own reconnaissance. What would she say to where Steve was now? After all, her sacrifice had been to allow everyone else in the world to be saved and Thanos destroyed. 

She'd always wanted Steve to find someone he could settle down with. Always teased about him and Tony. In the end, wouldn't she be on his side and say to take what he wanted?

"Then you can be the one to tell her," Steve replied, pulling back the sheets.

"Me?" Tony grasped his own side and yanked them aside. "Why me?"

"Are you still intimidated by her?" Steve asked, bypassing sympathy to go right back to amused.

"I don't get how  _ you _ aren't," the brunet muttered.

As soon as they were in bed and under the fresh blankets, Steve shut off the lights and pulled Tony into his chest. The smaller man curled up against him where he was meant to, tangling their legs up to keep their feet warm. It was Tony who fell asleep first, soft snores rising up between them. 

Steve fought sleep for as long as he could, saving it to his memory. 

_ Home _ , he thought as he started to lose the battle and drift off,  _ I'm home. _

Since the serum and the ice, Steve didn't really dream. Not for lack of trying, it was like the chemicals in his brain, or the REM sleep, one of those two, weren't allowing him to. Maybe it was just something stuck in his physiology now that didn't let him get far enough down in case of an emergency. 

After the Snap, it'd been impossible to sleep and Steve hadn't wanted to dream even if he could. They'd lost too many people and failed when they'd gone after Thanos to retrieve the stones. Steve had been afraid of seeing Tony's angry, accusing face again or one of the many who'd been lost. 

Then they  _ won _ but lost Natasha and Tony, and Steve wanted to dream for the first time so that he could pretend things were okay. But the dreaming still didn't come. Steve was exhausted as he had always been but never got to see the people he missed. 

Now, he was in a place where he could let go and let the heavy tide of sleep pull him under for eight, uninterrupted hours and know that waking up will be when the dream really begins. 

Those hours are broken in the middle of the night when Steve's thrown into wakefulness by the man screaming in his arms. 

"Tony?" Steve said, alarmed.

Tony is still pressed against but had shifted onto this left side during the night. He was gripping his right arm, the sobbing screams of agony twisting Tony's features in the most terrifyingly unpleasant of expressions. Legs were kicking out, covers knocked away to the floor.

Steve didn't know what else to do but sit up with the man in his lap, stroke at Tony's sweat-matted hair and pray for the screams to stop.

"Tony," he called, rocking the man in his arms, "It's all right. You need to wake up, it's not real." 

Tony struggled in his arms as the nightmares clawed at him. It took a few tries to get Tony to finally startle awake and cling to his shirt. His eyes ran around the room wildly before he registered Steve.

"St-Steve." Tony looked horrible; pale and gaunt like when Steve saw the old footage of Obadiah Stane taking the original arc reactor from Tony while he was paralyzed.

"We're all right," the blond assured in a soothing tone, resting their foreheads together. "I'm right here. You're with me. We're safe." 

"Safe," Tony croaked back, fists shaking against Steve's chest and eyes refusing to close again. 

Their door was thrown open by their two children, looking scared from most likely hearing the screams, too. 

"Pops? Dad?" Peter's eyes fell on Tony and didn't leave, something shattered echoing on his face that momentarily took Steve back to watching the kid kneeling above Tony's burnt and dying form on the battlefield.

Morgan, while quiet, was gripping Peter's sleep pants and her Nat Bear with tears in her eyes. 

"Your dad just had some bad dreams," Steve assured them. "Even adults still get them from time to time."

That didn't calm them as much as Steve would have liked, but Peter's shoulders did relax. Tony carefully extracted himself from Steve and forced a smile for their kids. 

"I'm all better," Tony said, "but this is why daddy was supposed to cut down on his coffee intake." 

He patted the bed, and it was all Peter and Morgan needed for permission to run onto the bed. Peter squirmed his way between them while their little girl took Tony's lap and wrapped herself around him in a tight koala hug. Tony rubbed her back with murmured assurances while Peter observed his father shakily. 

"Peter," Steve said softly, waiting until the boy was willing to look away from Tony, "how about we get everyone some warm milk?"

The boy hesitated, physically trying not to look right back at his father. "Yeah, okay," he said after a moment with a short nod.

Steve was the one to look at Tony to make sure the other man would be okay with them going. "I've got Maguna here to look after me," Tony told them "go on and get your weird sleep cure."

The blond was only just able to return a smile before he scooted off the bed and guided their son out of the room. Peter didn't say anything as they went downstairs, withdrawn into himself while Steve went through the motions of getting out mugs. Peter fetched him the milk from the fridge, then stood by like a silent specter as Steve filled the mugs and started heating them in the microwave one by one.

"Is he really okay?" Peter finally asked in a hushed voice, staring determinedly at the wooden floor.

"He will be," Steve answered. "He has bad nights sometimes, Peter, but they always go away."

He needed them to. There was no place in this world for Tony to be haunted by bad dreams of any kind. Maybe it was just leftover from when Tony fell from the wormhole. Or the Malibu explosion. Aftershocks. Some things can be missed, even with Wanda's abilities, surely. 

"He sounded like he was in so much pain," Peter whispered, trembling. Steve ignored the beep of the microwave to pull the boy into a hug, closing his eyes at the first sound of Peter sniffling.

"It was a dream," he promised. "He's okay. We're all okay."

He and Peter didn't get the chance of having a close relationship in New York. The Accords made things happen so quickly, Brooklyn versus Queens at a foreign airport, but he knew the kid was all heart. Steve saw immediately why Tony had chosen to recruit a kid against him. This was his chance to help raise Peter like he should have been there to do in the first place. 

So Steve had no problem standing there for several minutes to hold Peter through the worry. This was their son now, he'll be there to take care of their children through anything they need. 

When Peter was ready, Steve didn't comment on the tears and runny nose that Peter wiped away with his sleeve. He handed the boy two of the warm mugs, heated up the fourth, and then they carried them upstairs where Morgan and Tony were waiting for them. 

They stayed in the bed like a family for the rest of the night. The silent concern gradually was replaced with genuine smiles, with Tony looking better with the more distance that came between him and the nightmare. Everyone enjoyed their milk, Morgan got to hear more Avengers stories, with Peter making suggestions on which to tell, and then not long after, both of the children were sleeping between him and Tony. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" Steve asked while he pulled the covers up and tucked Peter and Morgan up the best he could.

Tony, for his part, looked lost in thought, his eyes intensely focused on their bedroom window. Steve jostled him back into focus when he took the empty mug from his husband's hand. "I'm sorry, what?" he replied lamely, rubbing his face. 

Steve set the mugs aside on his bedside table before taking Tony's hand. "I asked if you want to talk about it," he repeated, resting kisses against the back of Tony's fingers.

He would have accepted Tony declining since they both used to have that habit when they first got close. If Tony were going to spend the time watching Steve or stare off until sleep then that would have been fine. Steve could have waited for the morning to ask again. 

"It…" Tony shook his head as if trying to shake the sleepy images loose. "We were on a battlefield. Where the Avengers Compound was supposed to be." 

Steve stilled, eyes staring down at the fingers he was holding. 

"I died," his husband croaked, confused and terrified. "There was something on my arm and it just -- it was like I was being torn apart by the most intense electrical shortage shooting through my body. And then I...I was dead."

_ No. _ Tony shouldn't -- he wasn't supposed to remember that. 

"But I wasn't scared then," Tony kept going, and Steve wished desperately that he wouldn't, "I was dying, Steve and all I felt was relieved. This complete and utter calm. Why would I feel that? I wouldn't -- the  _ idea _ of leaving you and the kids behind -- I  _ can't _ \-- "

Steve squeezed Tony's hand, easing up on his grip when he caught the man wincing. His throat clicked as he held back the barrage of devastation that was flowing through him. "You won't."

_ Tony threw himself on the grenade. He took the fall for the rest of them like Steve once believed he wouldn't ever possess the selflessness to. _

"Do you hear me, Tony? You're not going to leave us. We're free."

He hated how lost Tony looked. It was killing him as much as Tony's death killed him.

_ Tony was able to die at peace because Strange was right. It was the only chance they had at killing Thanos and Tony was the one there to make the sacrifice play when Steve couldn't do it. _

Tony died saving the world and his family. 

Tony's going to live for Steve and their new family.

Steve will be here to make sure of that.

Steve would pull Tony close and use their bodies to make the fear go away but he couldn't. Not until the kids were gone. Tomorrow. They can have it tomorrow. 

"Steve," Tony faltered, squeezing Steve's hand as tightly as he could. 

"This is real," Steve told him, putting the hand against his own chest. "Our family is real. And you'll never leave us.  _ We will never leave each other _ ."

Tony licked his lips, still looking harrowed by the recollection. He nodded slowly, with some effort, but he didn't pull away or deny Steve's words. "We're in this," he replied, "together." 

"Together," Steve vowed.

Sleep wasn't his friend that night. It took a lot of time to coax Tony into trying to go back into sleep, and then he was lying awake as if to make sure this family didn't slip away. Steve couldn't shake the buzzing anxiety that made his stomach clench. 

Tony wasn't supposed to remember Thanos or the battle. Steve could handle the PTSD of anything but Siberia and Thanos when it came to Tony. Wanda's life for them started after Ultron and that's where Steve intended to let it stick. 

Steve slipped out of bed without disturbing the other occupants.

He tiptoed to the phone that was hooked up on the wall in the kitchen and dialed the number Wanda's powers left for him in his head. Retching was a near thing for him until the call was picked up, rather quickly.

"Steve?" Wanda sounded wide awake. Did she know?

"Wanda. He." Steve pressed his forehead against the wall like it could make everything go away. "Tony had a nightmare. He. He remembered Thanos. The. He remembered how it ended."

A harsh breath filled the other end of the receiver.

"I felt a disturbance," Wanda informed him, sounding remorseful as if it was her fault it happened. Steve knew it wasn't. Mistakes happen. Flaws occur. Everything was fallible. "I could feel it was Tony, but I didn't know -- I'm sorry, Steve."

"Can we fix it?" Steve asked, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths to just will away the storm raging through him.

"Yes. Do you want me to come over now? I can. I promised you, Steve, I -- "

"It's okay, Wanda." It wasn't. But it will be. "The kids are with him. They're all asleep. But the morning. Can you come by then?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, Wanda."

"I keep my promises, Steve. Especially to you."

Steve hung up but didn't move. There. It will be better. It'll be perfect again. And Tony will be unshakably happy. 

Instead of going back upstairs right away, Steve took to the couch and let cartoons wash over him. It was easier to let his mind go numb if sleep wasn't going to befriend him. He lost track of the time until the sun started to rise outside and wash Steve with the dawn's pastel purples. 

Steve padded up the stairs on the balls of his feet so as to not risk waking up his family. He stopped before the master bedroom and went to the bathroom, figuring it'd be easier to cover up his absence with a shower if anyone were to ask. He let the water run slightly hotter than most would prefer and stripped out of his sleepwear when it was ready, steam already filling up the room.

As soon as the hot water hit his muscles, Steve felt the edges of exhaustion melt away and wash down the drain. He braced his hands against the tiled wall and let the water flow down him, letting the rough night go with it. It was a new day and Wanda would be coming by to help with it. 

He would be taking the kids to get the dog today, too. That will put their minds at ease.

So focused on planning out the day, Steve didn't pick up on the bathroom door being opened. It took a pair of arms coming around his waist for him to register he wasn't alone.

"Should've woken me up," Tony said, mouthing kisses along his spine, "I could've joined you sooner."

"Haven't been in here long," Steve assured, covering Tony's hand with his own.

"Still. I don't appreciate you trying to make me miss out on this view. You're gorgeous, like a wet Adonis."

"I'm sorry I almost took the opportunity away from you."

"You're forgiven."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, Tony resting against his back with the only sound being the relaxing tap of the shower raining down into the tub. It would be easy to drift off because of it, like listening to one of those ASMR videos that Clint got Bucky so interested in. 

Then Tony was pulling away from him and giving Steve's side a nudge so that he would turn around. The blond obliged and was promptly pressed back against the wall with Tony surging up into a kiss.

Steve didn't protest the development. The feeling of Tony's body wet and sliding against him was one of his favorite things. Hands wandered, lazily feeling at muscles and firm curves while their mouths moved just as unhurried.

"You've got work," Steve reminded, doing nothing whatsoever to hurry Tony along.

His husband made no efforts of his own. "'M a boss, I can do what I want."

Steve hummed and flicked his tongue against Tony's lip, his husband chasing after it and meeting his mouth messily. Normally, he wouldn't abide Tony running late but this time, he was willing to make an exception. 

And then Tony slid down to his knees and Steve was accepting the fact that Tony was going to be  _ extremely _ late.

"Gotta return your favor from yesterday," Tony gave in way of explanation, dark eyes looking up at Steve from underneath a fan of thick lashes. It stole his breath away and made Steve thunk back against the tile. 

"That wasn't about making you owe me a favor," Steve pointed out, but he didn't stop Tony from taking hold of his soft cock and licking a trail along it. The blond shivered, feeling the heat start to pool down into his stomach. 

Tony's tongue darted out against the head, lapping at it until a pearl of pre-cum formed with the hardening of his shaft. There was a time when Steve couldn't get enough of that mouth and the wicked things that the brunet could do with it. 

"Just let me give you a little something to start the day," Tony told him, and then Steve's head was slipping between two soft lips and into a well of slick heat. 

He refused to let his eyes shut, wanting to remember every moment. The bob of Tony's head was mesmerizing as he gradually took in more, his hands fluttering up to Steve's thighs. Steve hoped that Tony locked the door when he came in so the kids wouldn't be able to walk in. 

There was always something about Tony's face that let him know how much Tony enjoyed this. That it wasn't just about Steve. Tony loved to give, whatever he could, and with Steve, it was all about the two of them giving their love equally.

Steve released a rather sharp breath through his nose and found himself with his hands on Tony's head, not guiding just yet but as a secured promise. 

It was like someone was superimposing a similar moment from Steve's memory. From a time after a grueling mission against one of AIM's bases and Tony had dragged him onto the quinjet while the others were relaying details to Fury. Tony hadn't even removed the suit completely, just the helmet, and dropped to his knees. Steve's own uniform had been shoved halfway down his thighs while Tony swallowed down his cock then and there.

It had been fast and sloppy with Steve fucking Tony's face, driven further by the risk of their teammates being able to walk in on them at any second. Steve had come so hard down Tony's throat that day, and Clint had jabbed at the brunet later for being so quiet on the flight home.

But Tony had just looked Steve's way when the others weren't paying attention and smirked, and Steve just knew right then how in love with Tony Stark he had become.

Steve's attention was brought back when  _ this _ Tony, the one he was currently married to, relaxed his jaw and took all of Steve in to the point of the blond feeling the back of Tony's throat.

"Damn, Tony," Steve groaned.

Tony slowly pulled back and off of Steve, rolling his tongue around his cockhead and making Steve's hips jerk. He stroked long even pulls of Steve's shaft without breaking away from his eyes. 

"Go on, Steve," Tony purred. "I want you to. Fuck my mouth as hard as you want."

With permission like that, and Tony slipping him right back inside that hot mouth of his, Steve couldn't possibly think to decline.

Steve's hold on Tony's head grew firm. He let his hips thrust into Tony's mouth with reckless abandon, chasing his husband's selfless gift. He can let Tony do the same tonight. Or have Vision watch the kids and the new dog long enough to slip away somewhere at the office.

One day he'll come by and fuck Tony on his desk; lock the door and rut into the man until he cums all over his work -- 

It hit Steve in a rush, air knocked out of him and cock buried down Tony's throat as he came. Steve curled over his husband, body tingling as he came down from the sharp high and Tony just let him, swallowing down as much of Steve's come as he could. 

Steve rested back against the wall and almost got hard again just watching Tony pull off his dick, a trickle of white dripping down from the corner of his mouth. He felt himself twitch when Tony licked it away. 

He manhandled Tony onto his feet, tasting himself on the brunet's tongue and reaching down to get his hand on him to return this favor but Tony stopped him with a grab of his wrist. 

"You can take care of this later," Tony promised him, kissing Steve's chin, "but that was just for you."

"Are you sure?" Steve could feel Tony hard against his thigh. It wouldn't be too much of a hassle for Steve to take care of it. He  _ wanted _ to. Reciprocation and all that, like why Tony did it in the first place.

Tony delivered him another kiss but kept it short so that he could turn around and grab the soap.

"Later," he repeated.

Steve wouldn't fight him about it, but he will also not forget to bring it up when the time comes. He had to be satisfied with the shared rubdown of cleaning themselves up and shampooing their hair before getting out. 

By the time they made it downstairs, Peter and Morgan were already eating cereal in front of the television with Billy and Tommy. Wanda was nearby, observing them quietly, but she looked up at them as they descended the stairs and smiled. 

"I was only going to stop by for a hello, but then the boys wanted to come along," she told them. "Tommy and Billy were actually hoping that they could come along today and help pick out the dog. If that's all right with you, of course."

Before he could even answer, Steve had Tommy speeding over to him and Billy hurrying along behind him.

"Can we, Uncle Steve?" Tommy pleaded, bouncing all around him.

Billy, on the other hand, took a more subdued approach. "We'd really like to help, please?" 

Steve could feel himself already having a hard time coming up with any reason to tell the twins no. He looked to the man next to him and was met with Tony looking like he was in the same camp.

"You'll have to ask Peter and Morgan," Tony ultimately reasoned. "It's going to be their dog." 

Peter looked over the couch, shutting off the TV. "I don't mind," he answered before looking at his sister. "What do you think, Morgan?"

Morgan was jumping up from the couch with a big smile. "They know dogs best!"

"Then I suppose that settles it," Steve mused. The twins grinned at each other and cheered. "Peter, Morgan, brush your teeth first."

Tony and Steve sidestepped closer to Wanda so that the kids could pass them up the stairs. "Vision leave already?"

Wanda nodded, "He wanted to ride with you, but he didn't want to run late."

Steve's lips twitched at the subtle dig and coughed into his fist to hide a laugh, still getting a heatless glare from Tony.

"Billy, Tommy, there are some cinnamon rolls in the kitchen if you'd like one before we go," Steve offered the twins, the sentence only halfway finished when Tommy took off.

"We would love one, thank you, Uncle Steve," Billy told him before going after his brother.

With the kids temporarily elsewhere, it left the adults with their own business to take care of. When Steve turned back to Tony and Wanda, he had to stop himself from panicking. 

Wanda was up close, invading Tony's personal space as her hands glowed their familiar scarlet. Tony was completely still, like a puppet whose strings were being pulled taught, and his eyes reflected Wanda's magic as her hands wove intricately around him. 

He knew what she was doing, Steve had allowed it when she gave him his new memories and when she prepared this house for the family, but it also hit him with an old image of when Wanda and Pietro had worked against the Avengers as Ultron's minions. 

Tony had told them all about the vision he'd had before creating Ultron. But it was Wanda who came to Steve after Sokovia and admitted to him that she'd been the one who gave him the vision, just like the ones she gave the rest of them at the warehouse later on. It was another secret that Steve never felt Tony should know, in case it brought more guilt on Tony's doorstep.

It was hard not to fidget or ask questions with her tweaking the recesses of his husband's mind now. Steve lived in a body that was forced to be patient for everything from breath to respite so it wasn't some unknown concept to him. 

There was a difference when it involved a loved one. 

The tendrils of Wanda's power faded as she stepped away from Tony. The red receded from Tony's brown eyes next, and in the next moment, a blink resumed the connection from mind to body. 

His husband cursed under his breath and stepped close for a quick peck. "I'm going to be late, I should really be going," Tony declared. He grabbed his things from the table near the door and threw Steve a smile as he yanked open the door. "I'll see you later. Please don't get a kick dog like a chihuahua." 

Steve nodded. "We're stuck with whatever the kids choose."

" _ No kick dogs _ ," Tony stressed, then added a "Later, Wanda," and was gone.

Steve had to sit against the back of the couch as he waited for everything to clear. Wanda joined him, giving his shoulder a bump with her own. "He'll be okay now. An unremarkable bad dream. That's all it will be to him."

"Will he?" he replied weakly. "He'll be okay?"

"He will," Wanda insisted. "It isn't easy. But we're happy. And we will keep it that way."

Steve crossed his arms, the point of his canine digging into the corner of his mouth. "I love him."

"I know you do. And now he knows, too."

"We deserve this."

"We do. This is where you belong, Steve. Where we all belong."

He smiled faintly at her. "What are you planning to do while the boys are with me?"

Wanda gave her head a little shake and smiled. "I would love to say I'm taking a personal day. But I think that I need to check the barrier with Pietro, make sure everything is fine."

"Did something happen?" Steve could already feel himself switching modes, making a list of preparations if S.W.O.R.D. is making another attempt to get through.

"Not yet," Wanda said, brushing her hair up into a messy bun, "but I refuse to let them catch us off-guard."

Steve felt the same way. "I don't trust the Director that's running things for them."

"Should I be keeping a closer eye?" she asked. 

"I think we're safe, for now," he shook his head. 

There wasn't time to say more; the twins were returning with sticky fingers in their mouths and Peter was skipping down the stairs with Morgan. 

"Are we all ready?" he asked as he and Wanda moved away from the couch.

"All set, pops," Peter nodded.

"Okay then," Wanda said with a big smile, "Billy, Tommy, you better be on your best behavior for your Uncle Steve. He's not going to let you get away with things like Pietro does." 

"We'll be good, mom," Billy promised.

Wanda turned a stern look onto her next son. "Tommy?"

"I promised," the boy said with a long sigh. 

Satisfied, Wanda kissed them both on the cheek before she turned back to Steve. "Then we're all good to go." 

Wanda stayed with them as Steve got the kids loaded up in the car. It'd been a surprise that Tony Stark of all people had been willing to exchange the sports car life for a minivan. It could have also had something to do with Steve agreeing to get a second car. That one was closer to Tony's speed but not as splashy. 

Steve also had the motorcycle but that was never up for debate, as an intense night of Tony riding his lap on its seat proved.

"Have fun, boys," Wanda bid them as she slid the car door shut. 

"I'll keep a close eye on them," Steve promised her.

"I know you will, Steve."

Steve let Peter control the music since he had the passenger seat. Some poppy tune from a Spotify playlist that Morgan and the boys seemed to enjoy. 

But he couldn't help watch Wanda in the rearview mirror as they left, hands glowing as she took off into the sky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look, the chapter numbers keep growing. 
> 
> I figured with all the twists WandaVision has been giving, I should just say this now: as much as I love these twists, most of them aren't going to show up here since I had a plan of what I'd take from the show based on what had been revealed when I started this fic.
> 
> Maybe I'll do other fics related to those other twists at some point in the future. 
> 
> Anyway, enjoy the newest chapter!

It might have been a mistake to be one adult in charge of four kids. Well, he supposed it was really three, but Peter still got swept into the excitement Morgan and the twins were exuding. 

"What if we end up liking more than one?" Morgan asked.

"That's nice if you do," Steve replied, turning into the shelter's parking lot, "but you still have to decide on only one to take home." 

"What if they're, like, siblings?" Peter countered. "We can't split up family, can we?"

"Then it sounds like you better hope you don't find siblings," Steve answered. 

Steve used to look after the strays back before the war. Bucky and his ma took turns lecturing him on how much money that was costing them. So he knows that he'll be unable to say no if that off-chance of siblinghood does occur.

He's going to pray very hard that it doesn't.

Steve keeps the kids close as they head inside, and since it's the morning, they aren't stuck with a huge crowd. He signs in at the front desk, and then a very nice, very young employee approaches them not even five minutes later.

"I'm Johnny," the employee introduces himself, "and while it's not technically considered good news, we have a lot of animals for you to look at."

Johnny looks to be a few years older than Peter, with a buzzcut and a devil-may-care grin. He looks completely at ease despite it being a shelter, but Steve thinks it's only coming from a place of genuine enjoyment of looking out for the animals being kept. 

Steve takes one look at Peter and knows that the boy is a goner. 

"Great!" Peter exclaimed before turning bright red. "I mean -- I hope we can find one to take home. Not great that there are a lot."

Johnny turns his smile on the boy, and Steve almost feels bad for how quickly Peter looks like he's going to self-combust. "Yeah, I'd take a bunch of these rascals home with me if I could. Sue won't let me, of course. Says we've got enough as it is already."

"Sue?" Peter asked, looking devastated. 

"My sister," Johnny shrugs. "We've got a big apartment that we stay in while her big-brained boyfriend is getting his Doctorate or whatever." 

Steve had to fight back a laugh at how quickly Peter cheered back up. "Oh," his son said with a grin. "That's really cool."

Johnny's smile shifted into something with a little more genuine feeling, looking Peter over. "Cheaper rent, I guess," he replied. "So, are you looking for anything specific? Cat, dog, something old, something new?"

"We were thinking dogs," Steve responded, keeping a firm hand on Morgan so that she wouldn't take off. Billy looked to be doing the same with Tommy. "Not sure about age yet."

"All right," Johnny said, his grin back in place as he clapped his hands together, "follow me."

Johnny, with Peter hanging as close as he could without tripping over their feet, led them down one of the hallways. Barks echoed in the distance while Johnny gave them the low-down on their numbers.

"We've got three different areas for the dogs," Johnny explained, "keep them organized by size, you know? Don't want them on top of each other or constantly fighting for dominance. There are a handful of the larger breeds, but even more smaller dogs and then a sprinkle of some in-between. If you decide you have a specific size or breed you're looking for, just let me know. It's no biggie." 

"We could get one that's big and fluffy," Peter suggested. "Then we'll have a living body pillow to snuggle."

"We'll see," Steve replied neutrally, an amused smile already back on his face.

"There are definitely some good cuddle dogs," Johnny nodded.

"I want a tiny one!" Morgan announced. "Or a puppy!"

"A puppy is a lot of responsibility," Steve told her, "just ask Tommy and Billy. Sparky's a lot of work, isn't he, boys?"

" _So_ much work," Tommy replied.

"But Sparky's the best," Billy added. "We take good care of him."

"I'll take good care of our dog, too!" Morgan promised.

Steve smiled down at her. "I know you will." 

It turned out that the twins were far better at helping with the dogs than Peter was. 

Admittedly, Steve will put it on Peter being a teenager who can't resist looking at something he finds pretty. He's allowed to have crushes so Steve won't judge. He will just say that it's a good thing Tony wasn't there because _he_ would be right on top of teasing their son for the turn of events.

But Steve watched Billy and Tommy walk with Morgan to each cage to look at the inhabitants and read their little bios, both boys helpfully commenting on more than just how fluffy the dog looked. 

It let Steve hang back and enjoy watching fondly, take in the moment privately.

In the end, after much debating between the kids and Peter finally pulling himself away from Johnny long enough to voice an opinion, they were down to three dogs. 

A golden retriever named Lucky whose card said he was a fan of pizza, a three-legged Corgi that went by the name Thorgi (this felt like something Tony would have done solely to get a rise out of the Asgardian), and then a chocolate lab Johnny said they all called Kate. 

Now was when the debate wasn't coming to a consensus. 

"I want Lucky!" Morgan insisted. "Lucky likes pizza!"

"Lucky would not be allowed to have the pizza," Steve input, but the kids weren't really hearing him at the moment.

"Come on," Peter whined, "but _Thorgi_. That has dad's name all over it!"

"Becky looks sweet," Billy tried to add helpfully, looking smitten with the lab himself.

"Mom's not gonna let us get another one," Tommy grumbled to his brother, sharing in the affection.

Johnny gave a low whistle as he sidled up to Steve. "Looks like you've got a hard decision to make. Really glad to not be you."

Steve side-eyed him. "You know Peter's my son, right? I'm the one you'll have to ear Brownie Points from if you keep flirting with him."

"Got it," Johnny nodded, immediately taking a step away.

"Pops, tell her that we're going with Thorgi," Peter demanded, finally deciding it was Steve who got to have the decision on his shoulders. 

"No, tell Peter that we're getting Lucky!"

"Thorgi's the right choice, Morgan."

"No, he's not!"

"Cut the squabbling," Steve commanded in the Captain voice. Morgan and Peter stopped instantly and looked down at the floor. 

"Sorry," they both mumbled. 

Steve sighed, he should have had Tony do this. He's less of an animal softie, surely he would be able to put his foot down. Steve was Captain America, he can say no and make this decision.

Steve, in fact, did not make the decision.

It was why he was now handing over his card to Johnny's sister, Sue, while the guy flirted with Peter at the opposite side of the counter and Morgan was happily waiting by the door with the twins, two leashes in her grasp.

"They're both sweet dogs," Sue promised him with a kind smile.

"I have no doubt about that, ma'am," Steve replied.

"It means a lot to us that you're taking two home," she added, "even if it wasn't what you intended originally. We want as many of these animals to get homes as possible."

Steve nodded. With Wanda running the town, he wouldn't be surprised if all of them did.

He signed the receipt and shoved his wallet into his back pocket. "We're leaving, Peter," he called to his son, who sheepishly scrawled something down on a piece of paper and slid it in front of Johnny before he caught up.

"He's not allowed to call after eight," Steve told him.

Peter's face went red. "How--"

"Just a guess." 

Lucky went into the back with Morgan, Billy, and Tommy, the big guy happily getting to know the kids, while Peter got to have Thorgi right in his lap.

"So how's dad going to react to this?" Peter asked when Steve was down the road. 

Steve sighed. "We'll find out together." 

They kept the dogs leashed when they got to Tony's work, the office building looking unimpressive compared to all of the Stark Industries buildings that were located around the globe. Nothing flashy with Tony's name, nothing obnoxious or a behemoth. Just a simple building that looked like everything else in the Westview Wanda made. 

Normally, Steve wouldn't risk bringing any animals into a building without checking, at risk of them being prohibited. But he wasn't worried about it here. That's now how Wanda would want it to work, whatever decade she might be moving on to. 

He let Morgan lead Lucky since the dog seemed perfectly okay with that, taking in the new sights and smells at his own pace. Peter got Thorgi since it was clearly going to be _his_ dog, and he had no trouble keeping up despite being at the disadvantage of one less limb. Billy and Tommy didn't want to wait in the car so they were content to pet the dogs while they walked. 

Steve, again, stayed behind them as they all crowded into the elevator.

Tony's floor of the building wasn't like the office space that Vision resided in a floor below. It looked closer to the kind of research and development space that would have been at the Tower, just with more people working in it. His husband had a marked office towards the back but he was residing right in the center of the room, bent over some blueprints and schematics.

The first thing Tony did when he looked up was smile. It still stole Steve's breath away. And then he was free to see his husband register the presence of _two_ new companions, and resignation started to creep into his features while he pointed. 

"We said one."

Steve nodded as the kids brought the dogs closer to Tony. "We did."

"So am I seeing a fraternal version of double, then?" Tony stared down at Lucky and Thorgi with narrowed eyes. "Should I go to the optometrist?"

"They were both so good, dad," Peter said, his voice going high like when he was a kid. "We couldn't leave them there."

Morgan nodded along with her brother. "We had to help them, daddy."

"Oh, you _had_ to help them," he retorted, hands going to his hips. "And a certain someone couldn't break the news for you?"

Steve met his husband's gaze with a solemn expression. "I couldn't."

Tony snorted. "You're such a pushover, Capscicle." 

The inventor sighed and knelt down to let the dogs take in his scent, hand held out to both. "So who are we sharing the house with now?" 

Morgan grinned and patted Lucky's back. "This is Lucky. He loves to play with frisbees and eat pizza."

Steve could see Tony's eye twitch. "He eats pizza?"

"Johnny said that Lucky's favorite is pepperoni."

"He's a classic kind of guy," Tony nodded, eyeing the dog. "Who's Johnny?"

Peter should count himself lucky that no one else was paying attention to him, or the blush would have given the poor kid away. "He was the worker at the shelter who helped us out," Steve answered.

"Sounds like a PlayGirl model," Tony muttered, making Steve snort. "Who's this other guy, then?"

"Thorgi," Peter stated smugly, quickly recovering.

Tony paused mid-pet. "Huh," he said before patting Thorgi's head. "You're right, you couldn't just pick one of them." 

"Told you," Peter told Steve, turning back to smile at him.

"We did not say you'd be wrong," Steve replied. 

Tony pushed up back to standing, only wincing a tiny bit. "You know, I heard that there are leftover doughnuts in the break room," he told the kids. "I bet that no one's watching, either, if some were to just disappear."

Nothing else had to be said for the kids to rush out. 

Tony shoved his hands into his pockets and wandered over to Steve. "Hello, gorgeous. Come here often?"

Steve fought down a smile and looked away. "Sometimes," he answered, "when there's an attractive genius at work."

Tony gave a low whistle. "A hot genius, huh? Don't' see many of those." 

"They're pretty one of a kind," Steve nodded seriously. 

"Well, maybe I can help you look for him," Tony said casually, nodding his head in the direction of his office. "See if I can't get ahold of him for you." 

"Bold to assume I meant a man," Steve replied, walking past Tony to get to the office.

"Mea culpa," the brunet responded, following close behind. " _Is_ it a her? Then that could make it very easy to find her for you." 

Steve grinned. "Not at all."

"Good."

The door was shut, locked, and shuttered as soon as Tony crossed the threshold. Steve pressed Tony against it, crowding him and bending his own head down for a kiss.

Tony opened up for Steve right away, groaning softly and grabbing at the blond's arms. Steve shoved a thigh between his husband's legs, heat bubbling up to the surface already when he felt Tony half-hard against him. 

"Doughnuts?" Steve asked against his mouth.

"They'll be distracted long enough," Tony promised, surging back into the kiss. He shucked Steve's jacket off, the two of them abandoning it on the floor with a thud to stumble as a unit over to the desk. 

Steve was mindful when tugging Tony's jeans open to not tear them. He didn't know if Tony would actually care. He shoved his hand past the band of the brunet's underwear and cupped his dick, making Tony lean back against the desk with a soft groan, head falling back and hips pushing up into Steve's hand.

"This morning? When I said you didn't need to make me come?" Tony said. "I was an idiot. Couldn't stop thinking about you all morning." 

Steve grinned and pressed his lips to the underside of Tony's jaw, moving down his neck and feeling the bob of Tony's throat when he swallowed. "What did you think about?" 

Tony laughed, short and breathless. "This. Thought about getting you in my chair and riding you, honestly. Or your face tonight. Wasn't picky."

It was Steve's turn to groan, jerking his hips against Tony's leg. "Love your mouth," he sighed. 

"This morning told me how you did." He could hear the grin in Tony's voice, which made him bite down on Tony's collarbone. " _Shit, Steve_." 

Steve rubbed his hand against Tony's cock until he got the message to grind into it himself. 

"Do you want to know what _I'm_ thinking about?" Steve asked, giving Tony a squeeze to make his hips buck up. He licked into Tony's mouth, nibbling at a swelling bottom lip until it made the brunet whine. 

"A firework show? Some humble American pie?" Tony panted with a teasing smirk.

"One of those is close," Steve replied, slipping his hand further down, to brush at Tony's balls. "I was thinking about how much I want to bend you over this desk."

Tony whimpered and nodded, "I was hoping it was something like that. Fun for me. What are you waiting for?"

"To hear you say you want it," Steve answered simply. 

"I always want it, Steve," Tony replied, tugging at Steve's wrist until he pulled out, "you've got constant consent, and definitely right now."

Steve chuckled, observing how quickly Tony turned himself around and shoved down his pants. "Good to know."

Tony got his jeans and underwear shoved down to his thighs before he bent over the desk, legs spread as wide as the fabric would allow them. "We don't have all day, Cap, just get inside me, come on."

He made the brunet shiver as he ran his hands down Tony's back. "Tony, your enthusiasm is a constant turn on. But I still have to stretch you real quick."

"As much as your fingers are another part of your body that I love, there's no need," he promised.

Steve's hands stopped at the curve of his ass, stroking along them with his thumbs. "Oh?" he responded, brows rising. 

Tony nodded. "Mhm. Told you I was thinking about you. Had to slip away to the bathroom earlier and do something about it." 

Steve's eyes widened slightly. "You didn't."

"Why don't you check for yourself?" Tony responded with a smirk. 

Arousal stabbing at Steve's belly, he spread Tony's cheeks wider to get a look at his hole. A groan escaped seeing Tony already stretched, the shine of lube winking at him. He couldn't stop himself from pressing his thumb down and felt his own cock strain against its confines when it slipped right in without any resistance. 

"What were you going to do if I hadn't shown up?" Steve asked. He thrust his thumb in and out of Tony, his head spinning from the way Tony just kept sucking him back in. 

"Would've made an excuse to get you down in my workshop," Tony moaned, "would've asked you to fuck me against me against the wall, my table, anything as long as you took care of me."

Steve yanked his hand away to open his jeans and release his cock. "And you know I'd give you anything you wanted," he replied, stroking himself quickly. 

Tony observed him from over his shoulder, hands gripping the edge of the desk. "You gonna give it to me right now?" he asked, his voice dropping a few octaves. 

"Yes." 

Sex in Tony's office should have been off-putting with the risk of anyone walking in, but Steve found it spurring him on instead. He was gripping Tony's hip with one hand while lining himself with the other, urgency leading him to push forward quicker than he would. 

Sliding into Tony was quick and still like he was coming home. 

That's all Tony was for him. 

With the ease of filling Tony, it made him wonder how long he'd spent opening himself up. That then made Steve _picture_ it, vividly, and had his hips jerking forward to be flush with his husband's. 

"Best work day ever," Tony said to himself happily, resting his head against the desk. "I never stop feeling you. Like you're inside me for days." 

"We'll have to try it sometime." Steve would make it a plan. Send the kids to Wanda and Vision for a weekend and never leave Tony.

He couldn't prolong this like he'd want to; too many eyes and the kids could come back at any moment. That thrill helped him to drive his hips into Tony at a quick pace, reminding himself not to get lost in the feeling of Tony wrapped around him. There was nothing like being able to watch himself split Tony open and see the way his hole would quiver for him. 

Another disappointing edge to it was that Tony couldn't scream for him. Steve had to keep his hand over Tony's mouth to muffle him, though the _feeling_ of Tony's cries were satisfying enough. 

"I'll make a plan with Wanda," Steve promised, "and let the kids do a weekend sleepover. I'll be able to really fuck you for days. Won't pull out of you once, just keep coming inside of your pliant, loose hole. Your stomach will be all swollen from being so full. You'll look so gorgeous for me, Tony, so wrecked, because of how much you love being on my cock." 

"Fuck, Steve," Tony whined, "I shouldn't have taught you how to dirty talk."

Steve made sure Tony felt his smirk against his ear when he whispered, "What makes you believe you're the one who taught me, dollface?"

Tony shoved his hips back desperately at that, growling under his breath. "Who the fuck cares when it's me you're using it on now?"

He turned his head to practically maul Steve's face with his mouth, teeth and tongue possessive the way Steve loved whenever the brunet was riled up. Steve pulled him close by the chest and wrapped his other hand around Tony's flushed cock, strokes matching the pace of his hips. The noises Tony couldn't stop himself from making only made Steve go faster, wanting to listen to them like a broken record. He was flushing with pride at every single one of them. 

When they came, it was like the crashing of a wave, the air choked off in their lungs and being pulled under by a heavy force. It was messy, it was glorious, and Steve just wanted to turn Tony around and start it all again. 

He dropped his head between Tony's shoulders and kissed at the sweat-spots in Tony's shirt, letting them both catch their breaths. A smile grew when Steve felt Tony shaking with quiet laughter. 

"It is such a good thing I leave spare clothes," Tony said between laughs.

"Lucky you," Steve replied, realizing he was going to have to go outside with a sweat-drenched shirt. 

"You've got a jacket, Steve, you'll be able to pass just fine." 

Steve chuckled and sighed, kissing Tony's cheek before he carefully pulled out of the brunet. He pulled his pants back up and fixed himself while Tony did the same; Steve grabbing his jacket and closing it and Tony swapping shirts from a drawer in the desk. 

They were drawn back together at the door with another kiss, both smiling too much for it to be a very good one. 

"After you," Steve said, pushing open the door. 

Tony's smile only grew as he shook his head. "Ever the gentleman, Stark-Rogers," he replied, walking out.

It took donning his Captain Face to keep from flushing around all of Tony's co-workers. Steve said his goodbyes to Tony and got the kids from the break room so that they could go home. He felt bad that the twins would now be on a sugar high but at the same time was glad that he wouldn't be the one stuck dealing with it for the night. 

Wanda was home when he pulled up and didn't look very surprised by there being two dogs in the car.

"Thank you for letting us help, Uncle Steve," Billy said as he got out of the van.

"Yeah, what he said," Tommy added, speeding into the house. 

Wanda leaned in to the window and ran her hand along the sleek fur of the sleeping corgi in Peter's lap. "They did not give you a hard time?" she checked.

"They were great, Wanda," Steve assured, "but I'll apologize ahead of time. You might start being asked about having another dog."

"I can't say I did not see that coming," she replied, bemused. 

"How was your errand?" Steve asked, trying to gauge her day. 

Wanda didn't appear surprised by his question; they were in this together so he guessed that she expected him to check.

"It went well," she answered, "I think I'm going to do it again tomorrow just to be sure."

"Let me know if you want me to come along with you."

"If I need you, you'll know," Wanda promised. 

They didn't linger long and said their goodbyes. Steve was still uncomfortable in his damp shirt and needed to change it, so he made a quick pit stop at the pet store for supplies before he drove them home. 

Peter and Morgan stayed outside a while longer to play with their new pets while he went upstairs to change, and by the time they finally came in with Lucky and Thorgi, Steve was in fresh clothes and sitting at the window seat to work on a sketch. 

The dogs spent the next few hours cuddling their humans on the couch while they watched some movie. Steve started dinner an hour before Tony would be getting off work, something simple to end the day with. It was all ready to go by the time Tony walked through the door, sun setting outside. 

"Looks good," Tony commented, coming up and kissing Steve's cheek. 

Steve smiled and grabbed the plates from the cabinet. "Can you get the kids to set the table?" 

"Sure thing." Tony left his side, getting halfway out of the kitchen before he quickly turned back around. "So I was thinking we should go visit Rhodey and Pepper soon."

"Yeah?" Steve kept his back to Tony so that he wouldn't see how thrown the blond was.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? I don't need Rhodey Bear to feel like some forgotten mistress. And I'm sure there are some things Pepper inevitably needs me to sign for SI." 

"Right." Steve couldn't say no, could he? He didn't have an excuse to give and he couldn't tell Tony the truth about why that's not possible. Would he need to ask Wanda about bringing versions of Rhodey and Pepper into Westview?

"We haven't been to the city in forever, either," Tony went on. "We could visit that cafe you love."

Steve, plates and silverware in hand, turned to him. "Or they could come to visit us here," he suggested. "Let them see the kids and the new dogs. Who knows, maybe Pepper will like Westview." 

Tony made a noise in the back of his throat. "Damn, we sound so domestic, don't we? What's happened to us?"

"We retired," Steve replied, passing his handful off. "Now give these to the kids so we can eat."

"So you're good with the idea though?" Tony asked. "Seeing Rhodey and Pepper?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Tony shrugged. "It's never good to have the husband and mistress in the same room, Steve."

"Then we'll have to make sure all of the sharp objects aren't in the open," Steve replied, then shooed his husband along. "Of course, I'm good with seeing them again. They're our friends, Tony, I'm not going to act like they're banished from our existence."

Tony gave him another peck, this time on his lips, before giving Steve a nervous quirk of his lips. "I guess I don't want it to feel like I'm trying to rock the boat of our domestic Stepford bliss."

Tony had no idea how close to true that statement was. 

"You're doing no such thing," Steve promised. "We can get an Avengers reunion planned if you want. Except Thor might try to steal Thorgi once he hears about the name."

He was able to relax a bit when the brunet snorted. "Something already tells me Peter wouldn't let him get the chance." 

Feeling like he'd been able to successfully traverse that land mine, Steve returned to dinner. 

When they all sat down to eat, however, Steve still felt as if there was a shift in the air. 

Peter and Morgan were distracted with not-so-sneakily slipping their new pets some of the food from their plates. Tony was where he always found himself looking at any time of the day, even when they had their debriefings. So Steve got a front-row seat of his husband; Tony grew quiet and distant, barely touched his food except to push it around the plate. It made Steve worry that maybe he hadn't been reassuring enough about Pepper and Rhodes. 

Steve didn't see it as the best move to say anything while they were at the table since the kids didn't need to hear whatever it could be. So he waited until Peter and Morgan were done, bellies full and dogs sprawled on the ground next to them. 

"Peter, Morgan, how about you take them outside for a few minutes?" He suggested. "We'd rather not have them go in the house."

Peter groaned, rubbing his stomach. "Yeah," he answered, "just give me a second, pops. I think my stomach is trying to have one of those alien babies from those old horror movies."

"They're from the eighties, they're not old," Tony commented, standing up and collecting his things.

"They're old to  _ me _ ," Peter muttered.

Morgan wiggled out of her seat and pet along Thorgi's side, making the happy guy roll around and lick at her hand. "Playtime," she told him, hurrying to the door. "Come on, Peter!"

"I'm coming, Morgan," Peter replied, sighing heavily before he forced himself onto his feet. Lucky was there to nudge the back of his legs and help the boy along. "Lucky, I'm not stable enough, you're gonna knock me over."

Steve gathered everyone else's plates when he heard the front door shut behind them, then followed Tony into the kitchen. The sink was filling up with Tony in front of it but the brunet wasn't focused on the chore. He was staring outside the window above it, at the darkened black yard.

"Tony?" Steve prodded carefully, setting the rest of the dishes inside the building hot water. He added the soap and shut off the faucet without looking away from Tony's face. 

Tony didn't respond to him right away. He did grab the sponge and start cleaning one of the plates. It told him that there was a thought turning in there and so he had to wait still.

Waiting for Tony has been a constant state for Steve since they first met. 

It took almost half of the dishes being done and Steve getting the leftovers stored in the fridge before the silence was broken. 

"This is real," Tony said, focusing intently on his hands, "isn't it? I mean, I was out there, getting the kids to set the table, thinking about Rhodey-pus and Pep, and it just--hit me."

The blond leaned against the refrigerator door and crossed his arms, cautious eyes watching through a blank mask. "What hit you, Tony"

"That we're happy." Tony set his hands on the rim of the sink and looked at Steve, his eyes filled with torment for the first time since they'd fought with Thanos. " _ I'm happy _ , Steve."

Steve swallowed hard. "What's wrong with us being happy?" he asked in a small voice. 

Tony's laugh made him flinch; the sound was so brittle. It didn't fit here, in their life. It wasn't supposed to exist anymore. "What have I done to deserve being happy?"

"You've protected the world," Steve answered, unable to get himself to move. 

"After I caused the problem. Twice, I might add."

"Stand caused the first problem," the blond bit out, "and you made a mistake with Ultron. Bruce was part of that decision and I know you were just trying to protect everyone." He still didn't agree with what led to it but Steve long forgave Tony for the mistake.

"I'm selfish, Cap." Steve could see Tony's knuckles going white with his grip. "I used to not  _ care _ . It was all about the money and partying, and the sex. I put people's lives at risk before and after creating Iron Man. I almost lost you, you almost lost me, I'm not a good person. I don't deserve you or the kids."

Steve didn't understand what triggered this. Tony hadn't panicked like this when he was happy with Pepper and got to raise Morgan. 

He couldn't take the way Tony was talking or the way the man he loved was in so much emotional agony that he was starting to curl in on himself. Steve rushed forward to wrap Tony up in his arms. At first, his husband jerked and struggled against the hold, pushing at his chest to try and get away. Steve held fast, refusing to let Tony finish this downward-spiral. 

Jagged breaths came out of Tony as the struggles slowly died off. They stood there clinging to each other, the smaller man shaking in Steve's grasp.

"You've selflessly saved the world," Steve told him, projecting what strength, absolute in its direction and permission, to the man in his arms. "You've earned this life, Tony. We get to rest now. We get to be happy."

This is what Tony died for. And now Steve was here to make sure they got to share in it together.

Tony's fingers dug into the back of his shoulders, flashes of pain spiking through but Steve paid it no mind. 

"We're in this together," Steve reminded him, their promise when Ultron had threatened what they'd built together and as the Avengers. 

"We're in this together," Tony repeated, a beat later.

Steve didn't let go of Tony and he didn't think that his husband planned on trying to pull away again. His eyes moved to the phone hanging on the wall, knowing who he was going to need to call when he gets Tony to rest. He'll even finish the dishes, too, since they weren't of any importance now.

Even their perfect life required upkeep. It was Steve's job to fix it, and so he would. 

He just had to learn to ignore the way it made his heart feel like it was being ground to ash all over again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the extended time between this chapter and the previous one; I've had some prompts to fill for a challenge so I was putting off working on this until they were finished. Please enjoy this new installment!

It was easy to slip into a pattern. Time seemed to pass with no significance to Steve anymore and made it a very simple thing to not keep track. 

Every day was filled with Steve, and once the other Tony, had wished for. They'd wake up together, have the kids to look after, send them off to school or to play with the twins, deal with the dogs, work. It was endless in the ways that Steve craved. 

Steve worked as a police captain now. Strangely, it was with Pietro at his side. They kept an eye out for any sign of S.W.O.R.D. or circled around the life that went unspoken.

If it wasn't work, then he and Tony would slip away to the workshop and fall into the old routine of working independently while still hovering in one another's space. 

It was perfect, and then Tony would have a nightmare or remember something he shouldn't, and Wanda would come to fix it all over again. 

Steve swallowed down a portion of guilt whenever it happened and went right on pretending it didn't happen. 

"I'm sorry," Wanda said one night, the same thing that was always said. 

Steve leaned against the porch railing and stared up at the full moon. "I keep telling you there's no need to be. There's always going to be a hiccup. We'll just keep dealing with it."

Wanda joined him, still looking so disappointed with herself. "I promised you that it would be better here."

"And it is," he assured her. "He's alive. He's happy. It wouldn't be realistic if it was flawless, right?"

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it." 

"It's what we have to do," Steve replied. "Look for the silver lining. Otherwise, we'll be stuck in a pit with no way to climb out." 

Wanda leaned against his side, the two of them content to take in the night for a little bit. 

"How's Vision?" 

"He knows there's something I haven't been telling him."

Even now, Vision was still an intelligent being. He wasn't going to stick to some ignorant bliss forever like they were content to. "Maybe you should tell him," Steve suggested, knowing how it sounded coming from him. 

"He wouldn't understand," Wanda said quietly. "I think he'd hate me." 

"Would he?" Steve turned to face her, resting against a wooden beam. "He's a being made to think over the logistics of every single idea, Wanda. He might be able to see the good in this."

Wanda looked it at, eyes laced with fear. "And if he doesn't?"

"Then you fix it. Like you fix Tony." 

It was the only option that they'd have. Steve held his arms open for her and let Wanda step into a hug they both needed. 

"There's always the chance that he'll understand," Steve repeated softly, "and if he does, then we'll have someone else to help us find something more...humane, when it comes to the others, and how we can get S.W.O.R.D. to stand down."

He felt Wanda nod against his chest. They didn't remain on the porch for much longer, Wanda returning to her own family for the night and Steve slipping back inside for his. 

Establishing a home of their own would take time. And that's what they now have plenty of.

The morning brought with it a day on the job. Steve didn't wear the Captain America uniform anymore or carry the shield but replaced it with the black police uniform and a holster. It was all part of the show but Steve felt like he had a purpose with it nonetheless.

He just wished that Pietro would take it more seriously.

"What's on the agenda today, Captain?" Pietro asked with a salute, spinning around his chair. It was still...strange, to see a different face belonging to the name. Wanda had said she didn't understand why it happened that way, either, so Steve didn't think it was in his best interest to ask any questions.

"We should probably take another look along the border," Steve sighed, ignoring the gesture.

"You sure you don't want to go looking for vandals?" Pietro responded. "Find some common criminals? Streakers? Loiterers? We absolutely cannot let it stand when we have justice on our side."

"At ease," Steve said bemusedly. It was like having Clint around, if he squinted hard enough. 

Pietro sighed, long and dramatic, before he slumped in his chair. "Border patrol it is, then." 

The phone on Steve's desk started to ring, pausing Pietro's show so the boy could look at it with open curiosity.

"That's never happened before," he said, as if Steve wasn't thinking it himself, but the blond waved it away quickly. 

"It's probably just Wanda or Tony," Steve said, "or the kids." 

Still, Pietro used his feet to push the chair over to Steve's desk. The blond eyed the speedster before he picked up the receiver. 

"Westview Police Department." Steve was met with static on the other end. "Is anyone there? Tony?" All he got was the crinkling of static so he was prepared to hang it up and call it a freak accident. 

"Cap?" It rang through in a break before the static started back up. 

"Hello?"

"Cap!" he heard again, this time clocking the voice. 

Steve leaned forward, alert. "Darcy?" 

"Cap...need to--" The line went dead. 

"Darcy?" Steve repeated, but no voice or static came back. 

Pietro scrunched his face as Steve hung up the phone. "Who's Darcy? No one in town has that name, right?"

Steve shook his head, grim. "No. Darcy Lewis is out there in the S.W.O.R.D. camp. Which means something important's going on out there if she's trying to find a way to establish a connection again."

Even Pietro looked more somber at that. "Does my sis need to know about it?" 

"Not yet," Steve answered after a moment. "We need to know what's going on before there's any reason to worry her."

Pietro pinched two fingers together and ran them along his mouth. "My lips are sealed then. For now." 

"Sealed about what?"

Tony is leaned against the opening to the bullpen, amused anticipation on his face. Steve doesn't think he heard the whole conversation but it still gave Steve's heart an extra race. 

"Afraid I can't tell ya, Tony," Pietro replied, wheeling back over to his desk, "strict Need To Know basis, I'm sure you understand." 

"Ah," Tony nodded, visibly fighting a smirk, "well when you put it that way. I guess I won't bribe it out of you since you're such a good keeper of secrets, Pietro." 

Pietro smiled proudly and puffed up his chest. "Thank you. Wait, bribe? I'm amenable to a bribe. What bibe, Stark-Rogers?"

Tony clicked his tongue and shook his head as he made his way over to Steve. "Sorry, Maximoff, your window has already closed."

Steve smiled at his husband and stood up, leaning over the desk for a kiss. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Needed to sleep in this morning so I decided to play hooky," Tony answered with a smug smile. "I was hoping to convince you to join me. We could get brunch."

"You hate brunch," Steve replied.

Tony waved him off, fingers dancing against his chest like they used to on the reactor. "I do, but the excuse is still there. Whaddya say, Cap?"

He and Pietro really should do the border check. But going out with Tony sounded so nice and uncomplicated. 

"Go, Captain," Pietro ordered, smiling only a _little_ sheepishly when Steve looked at him. "I can take care of the check myself. If something's up then we know I can find you lickety-split." 

Tony turned an appreciative look at the speedster. "I knew you were my favorite twin for a reason."

"All right," Steve gave in, not that he had any other reasons or desires to decline. "I'll see you in an hour, Pietro."

"Two hours," Tony interjected. 

"Wh--" Steve was being pulled out by his husband before he could say much else. 

There was a little care off of the town square that they were able to walk to. It sat next to the movie theater and looked to be the popular spot for the residents of Westview to enjoy. They sat at one of the outside tables under a pastel-striped umbrella with Tony actually ordering a mimosa of all things instead of coffee. 

Steve watched him, baffled but entertained, as Tony drank from it. "What has gotten into you this morning? Skipping work, asking for brunch, drinking one of those?" 

"Don't judge me, Steven," Tony replied with a sniff, "I am allowed to change my mind about things." 

"I couldn't stop you if I wanted to," Steve promised. Tony's smile was worth the ass-kissing. "I'm glad that you asked me to do this. It's nice to get out of the house with you."

Tony scrunched his face up, "You make it sound like we're hermits." 

"No, I just mean...since the kids, we have _fun_ , but it's not always us just doing this." 

"I know what you mean. I like it too." 

Steve set his hand, palm out, on the table, matching the turn of Tony's lips when the man slid his own hand into it. They ordered food that Tony insisted redeemed them on the brunch bit since it wasn't eggs benedict, and they were able to enjoy themselves like the days between Avengers missions. 

"You've always been good at giving me what I've wanted, Tony," he told the brunet when they decided to walk through the square before going back to work. Pietro was right; he could handle the patrol on his own for a bit. 

"What about the things you've given me?" Tony returned, going as far as swinging their laced hands back and forth. "Love, a ceasement of my abandonment and daddy issues, two smart as hell kids? You turned my life around for the better, Capscicle." 

And it meant everything to Steve that he could do it. He stopped their hands to pull them close, kissing the back of Tony's, then let the man continue with the swinging. "When SHIELD pulled me out of the ice, I didn't have a real place to go. No life, no friends, no family. No real direction. You and the Avengers were able to give me all of that." 

Tony snorted, "I thought I was the one who made the colorful stories. But I love you and the sentiment you're trying to give, Steve." 

That...wasn't what Steve expected. It also didn't make any sense. "What story?"

"I know that saving you from a cold lake was a big thing, but it wasn't that far into winter and I would hardly call our friends a group of avengers."

Steve's brows dipped, pushing into a firm line between them. "Tony, what are you talking about? Being in the ice is literally why you call me a Capscicle."

"Uh, I would remember if you were a human ice cube, Steve." 

A cold sensation swept down Steve's spine as he stopped walking. Tony turned to him in confusion, looking around to make sure they weren't in anyone's way. "Steve?"

"Tony," Steve felt the gears turning in the wrong direction, "how did we meet?" 

"It's no fun when we both know the story and no one new's around to hear it. Are you okay?" 

"Just humor me." 

Tony's eyes flitted around his face, uncomprehending. "Some old friends from MIT had a boat trip up the coast, us and your boat got caught in a storm. You'd fallen overboard, so Thor jumped in and saved you. I took it as an excuse to feel you up since you needed help getting warm before the hypothermia set in. What's going on, Steve?"

Oh no. No no no, that wasn't--This was bad. 

"Why did we move here?" Steve asked him, his voice unsteady like his legs. He backed into a tree to hold himself up, which did nothing to take the concern away from Tony. 

"Why are you asking me these things? Do we need to take you to the hospital?"

"Just tell me, Tony. Please." 

"Because I wanted to get away from Stark Industries and you thought the city wasn't helping with your PTSD," Tony replied, distressed. "Now _what is happening_?" 

This had to be a side effect of Wanda fixing things for Tony but he didn't understand how it happened like this. She was only supposed to balm over the problem and take them away, did she intentionally replace them with this? Why didn't she tell him? 

Hands cradled his face, pulling Steve's focus to the terrified eyes of his Tony. Steve covered his hand and put on his smile. "I'm sorry, you're right, I'm just--I guess I'm having an odd day."

"An odd day?" Tony responded, strangled. "An odd day is forgetting your socks or pouring juice into your coffee. Not acting like you have memory lapses, Steve."

"They're not lapses," Steve assured, because he couldn't let Tony be the one worried about _him_. 

"Then what are they?" Tony demanded. He can't blame the man for not believing him. He was never good at lying and this was why. 

Steve smoothed his hands along Tony's and turned his head to kiss at his palms. "I'm sorry. My head is all over the place. Sometimes I feel like we've had other lives, you know? Passing the time with a bunch of fantasies." 

He didn't know if Tony even believed _that_ with how hard he was scrutinizing Steve. "I get that," Tony said, relaxing inch by inch. "When I'm bored with a concept at the lab, I sometimes do the same thing."

Tony pulled Steve forward and kissed him before resting their foreheads together. "You really scared me there." 

"I'm sorry," Steve said again, dropping his hands to Tony's hips. "I didn't mean to do that." 

"If you ever do again then I will kick your ass," he threatened. 

Steve closed his eyes, swallowing hard. "I know." 

They went back to the station after that. The mood was dead because of Steve, and now he was only able to think about getting ahold of Wanda.

"When do you get off?" Tony asked him, lingering by the entrance. 

"Five," Steve answered. He was going to need the time to really think now. It wouldn't do him any good to show Tony or the kids another freakout. 

The brunet squeezed Steve's hand before he let it go. "Then I'll see you at five. Don't forget that we're carving pumpkins tonight."

"Pumpkins?"

That worry was back on Tony's face. "Tomorrow's Halloween. Are you _sure_ that everything's okay?"

"A lot's been going on recently, it just slipped my mind," Steve replied.

Tony stepped back reluctantly. "All right…" 

"It's fine," Steve promised, pulling him back for a quick kiss. "I'm fine." 

He sent Tony off, shaky ground between them as Steve went back inside.

It was more of a relief than a surprise that the speedster was there regardless of Pietro having accidentally trapped himself in one of the cells. 

"Hey, Cap, would ya mind helping a guy out?" he asked when he noticed Steve. 

Steve picked up the ring of keys from his desk and made his way over. He was halfway through searching the ring for the right key when he gave the speedster a thoughtful look. 

"Anytime now, Steve," Pietro said as he drummed on the bars. 

"Pietro, you remember our lives before Westview, don't you?" 

Pietro didn't stop his drumming but he did give Steve an odd look. "Uh, yeah, I may have been shot to death, but known of those made my brain go kaput." 

A memory of Clint hunched over Pietro's body came unbidden before Steve's relief flooded through him. "So you remember us being Avengers?"

"Uh, yeah," he replied slowly, something clicking to make him stop his hands and take a more serious look at Steve. "What did Tony say?" 

"His memories are wrong." 

Steve found the right key and turned it into the lock, pulling open the cell door for Pietro to be able to step out. 

"Okay," Pietro replied as he threw himself into his chair, "wrong as in he misremembered, or wrong like he's parading around like this is an episode of Suburgatory like everyone else here?"

Steve shook his head slowly, "I don't know what the reference is but I feel like that's the correct answer?" 

Pietro winced, "That's not good, Cap. I'm not the one who does the witchy thing and makes all of this happen but I know it's a problem."

"I should call Wanda."

"Yeah, you should." Peter shook his hand in the air. "But maybe hold off. Coulda also been a fluke. Tell her tomorrow."

"You want me to put it off?"

"Look, he's not hurtin anyone, right?" 

Steve frowned but replied, "No. He's fine."

"Exactly." Petro pointed at him. "He's still happy, still your happy hubby, and you still got a nice family to go home to. Take the night and tell Wanda tomorrow. If she's not busy freaking out about Halloween." 

Maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing to wait. As much as Pietro said a lot of things and only sometimes managed to not be confusing or irritating while doing it, it...it selfishly made sense. 

And Steve was continuously making selfish decisions. 

He found little things to busy himself with for the rest of the day, going as far as to do his own patrol of the hex's barrier so that he wouldn't do anything stupid. It gave him time to convince himself just how good of an idea Pietro had by the time he was going home. 

Tony and the kids were at the table, each with a pumpkin the size of Thorgi, the dogs moving around excitedly at their feet. 

Johnny was also there, kicking back next to a blushing Peter. 

"Heya, Other Mr. Stark-Rogers," Johnny greeted him. He lowered his feet to the floor when Steve gave them a pointed look. 

"Nice to see you, Johnny," he said politely, "this is an unexpected surprise." 

"Aren't all surprises supposed to be unexpected though?" Peter piped up.

Tony gave an unhelpful smirk as he doodled a design on his pumpkin. "He's got a point there, Steve."

When the brunet looked up at him, Steve could see the question in his eyes. He hadn't forgotten about Steve's behavior, not that he'd entirely expected it. But when Steve gave him a fond smile, he seemed to be able to quell those concerns for now. 

Steve approached the table so that he could kiss Morgan's head and snatch up one from Tony's lips. "Let me get changed and I'll help Morgan cut into her pumpkin."

"Oh, no rush," Tony said dismissively, "we've already got a show to keep us entertained until then." 

The show had to be Peter clumsily cutting into his pumpkin with Johnny obnoxiously poking at their son through quip and Sharpie.

Morgan tugged on Steve's pants to get his attention. He leaned over, letting her hold a hand up to cover her face and whisper in his ear. "Peter's got a crush and is acting all funny."

It was a miracle that his face didn't give anything away. "Crushes can make people do that sometimes," he whispered back to her, using her hand as his own barrier. "You might act that way in the future, too." 

"I hope not," she said with a vigorous shake of her head. 

Steve chuckled and kissed her cheek. "Keep a watch over them for me until I get back?" he asked her.

Morgan grinned at him. "I can do that," she promised, while Tony scoffed.

"What, I can't do that? Aren't I the other adult here?"

"Depends on the day," Steve answered him with a smirk, then left his husband to sputter while he went up to their bedroom. 

He sunk into the feeling of home now that he was back around Tony and their children. Johnny was a new part of that from the looks of it. And if it gave their son a new source of happiness, then why should Steve do anything to disrupt it like calling Wanda? 

He can wait. He can.

It was a quick change into something more comfortable before he went downstairs. Peter and Johnny were working together on cutting open the top of their--it was definitely  _ their _ \--pumpkin.

Steve pulled up a chair between Morgan and his husband, grabbing one of the serrated carver knives. "Who needs my help first?" 

"Me!" Morgan said, pushing her pumpkin closer to him.

"Hey," Tony sulked, "he's my Steve, I should get first dibs with him using his strong muscles to cut open my pumpkin." 

"But I  _ said _ it first," Morgan countered smugly. 

Steve looked at Tony and shrugged. "She's got a point." 

Tony sniffed. "I see how it is. I'll just do it on my own." 

Steve nudged his shoulder with Tony's, the brunet only pretending the snuff him at first before nudging him right back and staying there. 

Cutting into the pumpkin was easy. He kept the blade angled so that the top wouldn't fall in and would be easy to place back once they were finished. The next part was going to be messy. Peering into the pumpkin, he could see the bright orange guts and the white seeds waiting within it. 

Morgan looked delighted at the sight, pushing up onto her knees in the chair for a better reach.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked her, his Captain voice at the ready and making a point to not notice Tony's shiver as he held out one of the scoopers to their daughter. 

She took the scooper from him with a sharp nod. "Ready."

Steve picked up another one, tapped it against hers, and then they started to scoop the guts out. Two different bowls were set in the middle; one to dispose of the guts, and the other to put the seeds in so that he could bake them later, the way that his ma would when he was a kid.

When Morgan was distracted enough to take care of the pumpkin on her own, he was able to turn to Tony, who was fighting with the cutter halfway around his. 

"Want some help?" Steve asked, amused. 

"I am capable of cutting my own pumpkin, Steven," Tony replied before tugging at the cutter again and not getting it to budge. "But I might have, admittedly, gotten it stuck."

Steve raised a brow. "So is that a yes?"

Tony huffed. "Fine, it's a yes." 

Steve didn't let Tony let go, giving his husband a special compromise with both their hands wrapped around it. He carefully wiggled it around until the blade was dislodged, then guided Tony through cutting the rest of the way around. 

"I guess this can be considered as something romantic and couple-y," Tony relented, looking up at Steve. The blond shared his agreement through a short press of their lips. 

"Gross, keep that to yourselves," Peter complained.

Steve gave him a pointed look, eyes moving to Johnny. "The declaration will be mutual," he warned, knowing Peter understood when the boy's cheeks went red again. 

Tonu snickered, "You know, it's fun when you're the teasing parent. Means you know how to have some fun still." 

"I've always known how to have fun," Steve countered, "you just didn't pick the right things."

That earned a snort from Tony, a smile on his face. They were all covered up to their elbows in pumpkin guts when the pumpkins were all emptied out and faces were carved into the sides. 

"I've never dealt with anything so gross," Tony scrunched his face, staring down at the mess. 

Steve was pretty sure the Chitauri guts were further down that alley, but that just reminded him of his current problem. He kissed Tony's cheek and picked up the bowl of seeds. "Peter, you and Johnny take Morgan upstairs to wash her hands. We've got the sink in the kitchen."

"Sure thing, Mr. S," Johnny bid, saluting and corraling Steve's kids up the stairs. 

"I feel like we should be concerned where that's going to lead," Tony mused, following Steve into the kitchen. 

Steve set the seeds on the counter and went over to the sink, nudging the faucet on with his elbow. "That would probably be the wise thing for us," he nodded. 

He doused their hands with soap and massaged the residue from their hands, Tony looking pleased to sit back and let him do the work. 

"I should have you pamper me like this every night," Tony said. 

Steve made sure every trace of guts was gone from both of their arms before he shut the water off and grabbed one of the hand towels. "I would if you wanted me to." 

"Really?" 

"Really."

"You're good at tempting me," Tony hummed, taking the towel from him and tossing it aside. He stepped up to Steve and hooked his arms around the blond's neck. "Should probably quit while you're ahead before I take full advantage."

Steve pressed his hands against the dip of Tony's back. "And if I want you to take advantage?"

Tony pushed up on his toes a bit. "Then I will."

"Good."

They shared a kiss, one that Steve had every intention of continuing tonight, when he heard the kids coming back down the stairs and the phone started ringing.

Tony groaned and pulled back reluctantly. "I take the kids, you take the phone?" he offered. "It's probably Wanda anyway.

"Sure," Steve nodded, taking in the view as Tony walked out before he picked up the phone. "Wanda?"

It was the static again, like at the station. All of his good mood dropped as he turned his back on his family and lowered his voice. "Darcy?" 

"Steve!"

Again, it cut out shortly after. 

Steve stared down at the receiver. Something was wrong out on the other side of the hex, and if Darcy can't find a way to make the signal work, he might have to make the sacrifice and step outside. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are much appreciated!


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